The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Bought by Parkside Financial Bank & Trust

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,174 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in Williams Companies by 36.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 10,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $253,000. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 82.3% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 8,597 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 3,881 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 19,896 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho raised their price target 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.21.

Williams Companies Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $58.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.73. The company has a market cap of $71.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.38 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date 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 109.29%.

Williams Companies Company 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.