Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Reduces Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,197 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,378 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its position in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $995,000. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 266.6% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,694 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,426,000 after purchasing an additional 113,227 shares during the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 531,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,765,000 after purchasing an additional 115,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,618 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:WMB opened at $60.06 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.34 and a 200-day moving average of $57.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.06 and a 52 week high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.