Morton Community Bank Has $4.91 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Morton Community Bank decreased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,744 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,131 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up about 1.3% of Morton Community Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $54.37 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $56.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.20. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.78 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

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.