IHT Wealth Management LLC Boosts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,477 shares during the quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 38.2% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,619 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,726,000 after buying an additional 11,223 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $207,000. Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 6.0% in the second quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 9,094 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its stake in Williams Companies by 27.1% in the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 9,775 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in Williams Companies by 8.5% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 232,245 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,870,000 after purchasing an additional 18,201 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.6 %

WMB stock opened at $56.84 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $53.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $69.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results 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. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % 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 Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.07.

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.