The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Groupama Asset Managment

Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 37.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 79,315 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,585 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Williams Companies by 2.6% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc grew its stake in Williams Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 78,548 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,586,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 18.7% in 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 in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WMB. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $56.85 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The stock has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.