Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Sells 6,977 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 327,979 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,977 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $18,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 36,554 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 12.3% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,607 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $12,488,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $55.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $67.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.