First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Raises Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 103.1% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 12,647 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.6% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 175,294 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Cadence Bank raised its position in Williams Companies by 14.1% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 8,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.2% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho upped their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

WMB traded down $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 349,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,278,907. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $70.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a PEG ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results 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 during 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.