Continuum Advisory LLC Increases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,518 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the third quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 72,560 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,312,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 6,673 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 79,315 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 21,585 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.5% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 388,123 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $17,718,000 after purchasing an additional 9,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 21.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 203,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,276,000 after purchasing an additional 36,213 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $56.85 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.92.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This 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 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.