First County Bank CT Trims Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First County Bank CT reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,198 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 10,155 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 120.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

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

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.9 %

WMB opened at $59.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.04. The company has a market cap of $72.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.