Horizon Investments LLC Sells 9,929 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Horizon Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,366 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 9,929 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.21.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.60. 13,202,488 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,181,508. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The business's fifty day moving average is $57.09 and its 200-day moving average is $53.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Williams Companies Company Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.