Annex Advisory Services LLC Grows Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 4,119 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.22 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $56.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.76. The company has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

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.