Bessemer Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 74.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 79,126 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,888 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $46,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. US Capital Advisors downgraded Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.77.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Thursday, reaching $42.28. 1,418,352 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,542,279. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $45.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.55. The firm has a market cap of $51.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 6.90 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.