The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) SVP Chad A. Teply Sells 26,000 Shares

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Williams Companies Trading Up 3.5 %

WMB opened at $58.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $35.38 and a one year high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.21.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.