The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC cut its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,464,154 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 324,421 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.20% of Williams Companies worth $112,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

WMB opened at $59.65 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.35 and its 200-day moving average is $45.64. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.36. The company has a market capitalization 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.54.

About Williams Companies

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.