Cornerstone Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,800 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.72 on Friday, hitting $44.00. The company had a trading volume of 8,859,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,182,111. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $53.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.49 and a 52-week high of $44.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.72 and a 200 day moving average of $38.39.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results 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. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.77.

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.