Courier Capital LLC Takes Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Courier Capital LLC purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 66,137 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,019,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.62.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $52.24 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.14. The stock has a market cap of $63.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $52.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

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.