Calton & Associates Inc. Acquires Shares of 8,519 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,519 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after buying an additional 14,672 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 145.5% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 95,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,716,000 after buying an additional 56,509 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $2,364,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $1,036,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.6 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $52.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $52.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.62.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.