Richardson Financial Services Inc. Makes New $245,000 Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 7,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE WMB traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.17. 3,602,347 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,357,759. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.22 and a 12-month high of $41.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $50.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.14.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.25.

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.