The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by GoalVest Advisory LLC

GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,542 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Napa Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,583 shares of company stock worth $6,095,318 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $60.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $73.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.19. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.11 and a 1-year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.75.

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.