Cohen & Steers Inc. Sells 222,580 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Cohen & Steers Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,988,025 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 222,580 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. owned about 0.33% of Williams Companies worth $215,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.4 %

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $58.49. The stock had a trading volume of 6,895,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,629,230. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.80. The company has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. 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 12 month low of $37.46 and a 12 month high of $61.67.

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 for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % 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. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. CIBC boosted 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.77.

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.