Equity Investment Corp Sells 24,609 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Equity Investment Corp trimmed its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,042,128 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 24,609 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp owned 0.09% of Williams Companies worth $66,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 122.4% in the 3rd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 41,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,611,000 after acquiring an additional 22,681 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 52.7% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 71,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,517,000 after purchasing an additional 24,599 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,540,556 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $287,644,000 after purchasing an additional 134,777 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 27.9% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,653 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during the period. Finally, Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.4% during the third quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 449,147 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,453,000 after buying an additional 6,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of WMB opened at $68.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $68.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $61.47 and its 200-day moving average is $60.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.60 billion, a PE ratio of 35.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that 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 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $132,780.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 293,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,488,452.55. This trade represents a 0.68% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $498,700. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho upgraded Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.64.

Williams Companies Company Profile

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.