The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by O Brien Greene & Co. Inc

O Brien Greene & Co. Inc decreased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 931 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for 2.4% of O Brien Greene & Co. Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1,855.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after buying an additional 39,880 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 402.9% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 91,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after buying an additional 73,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 41.5% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 89,757 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,097,000 after acquiring an additional 26,337 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WMB opened at $56.85 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.