The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,213,244 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 61,072 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises 1.7% of Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.26% of Williams Companies worth $173,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $54.37 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $66.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.20. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.78 and a 12-month high of $61.46. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.