LPL Financial LLC Has $112.49 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

LPL Financial LLC lowered its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 11.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,464,154 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 324,421 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $112,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 52,845 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,412,000 after purchasing an additional 16,885 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Williams Companies by 22.8% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 146,333 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,680,000 after buying an additional 27,186 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.6% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 75,488 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after buying an additional 28,473 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 35.0% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 17,542 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 4,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Payden & Rygel boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 38,260 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,747,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $59.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $72.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.54.

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.