Choreo LLC Acquires Shares of 42,320 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 42,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,794,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 14,707 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,954 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 39,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 5,536 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 28,891 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $44.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.49 and a twelve month high of $45.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.88. The firm has a market cap of $54.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.83.

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.