Lbp Am Sa Sells 24,018 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Lbp Am Sa trimmed its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 22.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 82,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 24,018 shares during the quarter. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $322,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Williams Companies by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 25,091 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after buying an additional 5,742 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its position in Williams Companies by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 42,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,939,000 after buying an additional 4,155 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $57.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $69.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.51. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $36.84 and a one year high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 3.49%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.