Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 158,640 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 268.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,708 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 158,640 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:WMB opened at $57.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $42.82 and a one year high of $63.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.24.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 100.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

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.