Oak Thistle LLC Trims Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Oak Thistle LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 83.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,375 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 37,159 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $330,470,000 after purchasing an additional 67,016 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $165,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $59.22. 8,207,230 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,068,557. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.08 and a 200-day moving average of $49.59. The firm has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.00.

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.