Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Acquires 2,452 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 11.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,954 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 2,452 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. 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 downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2%

WMB opened at $57.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.69 and a 1-year high of $63.45. The company has a market capitalization of $70.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.27.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 100.50%.

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.