Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. Sells 4,918 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB – Get Rating) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 232,180 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,918 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 52.5% in the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $28,000. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $30,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. 85.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $28.78 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 1.17. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.17 and a 1-year high of $37.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 18.69% and a return on equity of 16.02%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.4475 per share. This represents a $1.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 10th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.55%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, Director William H. Spence bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.61 per share, for a total transaction of $148,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 48,521 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,706.81. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WMB. Barclays downgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Williams Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $37.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, February 27th. Argus cut shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.82.

About Williams Companies

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The Williams Cos., Inc operates as an energy infrastructure company, which explores, produces, transports, sells and processes natural gas and petroleum products. It operates through the following segments: Transmission and Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, and West. The Transmission and Gulf of Mexico segment consists of interstate natural gas pipelines, the Transco and Northwest Pipelines, as well as natural gas gathering and processing and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.