West Family Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

West Family Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,126 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Williams Companies by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 120.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $58.60 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.31. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $58.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.