Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 76.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 110,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 350,177 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1,855.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 39,880 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 16,064 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,004,000. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 26.8% during the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,771,000 after buying an additional 443,423 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.2 %

WMB opened at $59.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction 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 owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.54.

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.