The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Holdings Lowered by Sterneck Capital Management LLC

Sterneck Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,610 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,407 shares during the period. Sterneck Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 5.9% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $817,736,000 after buying an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $538,482,000 after purchasing an additional 144,713 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $403,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039,703 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $410,064,000 after purchasing an additional 311,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 13.4% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 8,540,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $332,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010,658 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $48.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.91. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.58 and a 52 week high of $48.33.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.83%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.46.

Williams Companies 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.