Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 11.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,178 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up 0.6% of Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CVA Family Office LLC boosted 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. raised its position 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 valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted 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 shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays boosted 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 note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.62.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $52.10 on Monday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.36. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $52.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.55%.

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.