The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,481,584 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 36,420 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $80,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,687,797,000 after acquiring an additional 540,533 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $575,103,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $495,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE WMB opened at $58.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.46 and a one year high of $61.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $57.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.77.

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.