The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,907 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,431 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.8% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% during 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. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $56.55 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $57.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $68.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.54.

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.