IFM Investors Pty Ltd Purchases 9,644 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 386,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 9,644 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $17,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.7% in 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 position in Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its position in Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $52.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,725,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,236,928. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $63.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $52.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.14.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

About Williams Companies

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.