Intrust Bank NA Has $2.36 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Intrust Bank NA reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,526 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,299 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Allstate Corp acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,958,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 35,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 234,445 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,688,000 after buying an additional 5,112 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $103,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,195 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 675.4% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 3,032 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 2,641 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.46. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

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.