Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Acquires 684 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,506 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its position in Williams Companies by 119.4% during the first quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 634 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.25.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $58.47 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.52 and a 200-day moving average of $57.76. The firm has a market cap of $71.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.