Board of the Pension Protection Fund Buys New Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 13,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $57.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.95 and a 200 day moving average of $49.46. The company has a market cap of $70.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Williams Companies Company 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.