The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 128,108,981 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,548 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Williams Companies worth $4,992,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WMB. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.77.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.00. The stock had a trading volume of 8,859,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,182,111. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $44.17.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

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.