KBC Group NV Decreases Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 128,801 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 7,045 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:WMB traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $55.43. 7,581,334 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,747,371. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $61.46. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $56.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.66. The company has a market capitalization of $67.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 3.61%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.