CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $910,000 Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,823 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,814 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 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 research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $56.23 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $68.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.