The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by First Bank & Trust

First Bank & Trust lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 103,840 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises about 0.8% of First Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Patten Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 23,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,476 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 12,263 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,803 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 9,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.50. The company had a trading volume of 8,506,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,084,668. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.98 and a 1 year high of $43.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

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.