New York Life Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 180,825 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.21.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $56.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.56. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.90 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $68.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.