The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.

O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. grew its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,910 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,307 shares during the quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in Williams Companies by 7.7% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 9,789 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.9% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 115,450 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,907,000 after acquiring an additional 6,413 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 31,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 47,669 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCG Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 69.8% in the 2nd quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,256 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 7,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.1 %

WMB stock opened at $59.22 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.59.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.