The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,428 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blackstone Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $252,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,800 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $57,220,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after buying an additional 1,024,158 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 5,896,375 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $229,782,000 after buying an additional 623,820 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.54.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $57.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.17. The stock has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $58.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 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.