The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Position Lifted by Holderness Investments Co.

Holderness Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,623 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $59.60 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $72.67 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $57.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.93.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

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.