The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 28.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,838 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,679 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $55.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $67.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.49. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment 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.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

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.