Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 791 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Hancock Whitney Corp decreased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,447 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 791 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,158 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 8.8% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $325,726,000 after buying an additional 618,056 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 26.8% in the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $95,771,000 after acquiring an additional 443,423 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 102.2% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 865,538 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,512,000 after acquiring an additional 437,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 180.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 638,120 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,868,000 after acquiring an additional 410,705 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.14 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $52.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.08. The company has a market capitalization of $70.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several research reports. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.79.

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.