Dudley Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Dudley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,628 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for approximately 1.4% of Dudley Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Dudley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 574,196 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,314,000 after purchasing an additional 6,433 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.8% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 66,401 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,968,000 after purchasing an additional 22,356 shares during the period. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 6.1% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,356 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,069,000 after buying an additional 2,957 shares during the period. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $2,737,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.77.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $57.85 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.41 and a fifty-two week high of $63.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $59.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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 on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently 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.