Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. Has $7.10 Million Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. cut its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 131,118 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 979 shares during the quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation increased its stake in Williams Companies by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 15,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 625.2% during the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,016 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $464,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 42,370 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after buying an additional 7,767 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $58.25 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.38 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.21.

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.