The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Albion Financial Group UT

Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $64,000 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 stock. XML Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 7,960 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,511 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 5,210 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $229,000. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,132 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several research reports. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $59.22 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $56.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $61.46.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Williams Companies 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.