O Brien Greene & Co. Inc Sells 8,377 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

O Brien Greene & Co. Inc lessened its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 162,932 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 8,377 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for about 2.9% of O Brien Greene & Co. Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 995 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded down $1.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.44. 11,081,263 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,709,167. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.26 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

About Williams Companies

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.