SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 96.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,527 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 838,011 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Magnus Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 21,878 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 7,960 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,511 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 5,210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $0.64 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.19. 9,580,339 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,864,842. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $67.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.49.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upped their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 company's stock. 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.