Private Advisor Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 106,170 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,015 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 18.7% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.8% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 31,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the first quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $52.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $63.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $47.17 and a 200 day moving average of $43.30. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $52.85.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.62.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.