Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Sells 12,809 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,903 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 12,809 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,549 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 10,374 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 6.8% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 14,497 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 2.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $71,952,000 after buying an additional 35,981 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,583 shares of company stock worth $7,107,758 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded up $1.46 on Wednesday, hitting $56.41. 7,875,036 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,903,785. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.82, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.56 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.33.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 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.