Cetera Advisors LLC Has $7.77 Million Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 189.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 199,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 130,477 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,833,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,237,502. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.92. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.49 and a 1 year high of $45.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

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.