Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,016 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.59% of Williams Companies worth $330,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth $437,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $81,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,634,386 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $63,692,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314 shares during the period. Finally, BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.8% during the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 89,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,492,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CIBC increased 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.54.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $59.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.64. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The company 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 company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued 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. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

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.