GAMMA Investing LLC Has $1.86 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,311 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $545,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 1,855.7% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 39,880 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 402.9% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 91,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after purchasing an additional 73,693 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised 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. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $56.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.31 and a 200-day moving average of $48.58. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $60.36. The company has a market capitalization of $69.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.