Genesee Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Genesee Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,897 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 464 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up 0.9% of Genesee Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One 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, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $55.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.49. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.