Values First Advisors Inc. Acquires 408 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,198 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 18.7% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 2.8% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 31,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.8% in the first quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.5% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.62.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $52.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $64.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.83 and its 200-day moving average is $43.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $52.82.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The company 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%. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.55%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Williams Companies

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.