Stonegate Investment Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 45,672 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,994 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $322,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 214,044 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,341,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 17,519 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,289 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.69. 765,357 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,255,074. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $52.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $63.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.75.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 79.83%.

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.