Merrion Investment Management Co LLC Has $750,000 Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 92.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,850 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 172,800 shares during the quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in 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 bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE WMB traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $56.52. 4,150,735 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,619,303. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $68.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50-day moving average is $56.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.61. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $61.46.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies 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.