Jennison Associates LLC Sells 2,376,890 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 39.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,641,435 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,376,890 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $197,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.0 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $55.43 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week 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 company has a market capitalization of $67.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.86.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.