Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Sells 1,031 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,193 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,031 shares during the quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $59.64 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $72.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $56.47 and its 200-day moving average is $50.41.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Williams Companies Company 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.