Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 1,271 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Fisher Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 21.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,531 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,271 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $538,482,000 after purchasing an additional 144,713 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $410,064,000 after buying an additional 311,530 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $325,726,000 after buying an additional 618,056 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,470,000 after buying an additional 67,016 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,158 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.79.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.52 on Monday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $52.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.38. The company has a market capitalization of $71.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. 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.