The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stake Boosted by HB Wealth Management LLC

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,045 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,804 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,605,000 after buying an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Williams Companies by 224.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after buying an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in Williams Companies by 31.7% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after buying an additional 718,915 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,004,000 after buying an additional 520,663 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.22 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. The firm has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.