Austin Private Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 4,092 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Austin Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,092 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $55.43 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $67.57 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.12 and a 200-day moving average of $50.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.