Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Acquires New Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,148 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 145.5% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 95,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,716,000 after acquiring an additional 56,509 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,364,000. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,036,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $52.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.46 and a 200-day moving average of $42.98. The company has a market cap of $63.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $52.82.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.46.

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.