143,173 Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Bought by Graybill Wealth Management LTD.

Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 143,173 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $8,556,000. Williams Companies comprises about 2.9% of Graybill Wealth Management LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $327,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 19,232 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 5,138 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 47,714 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,582,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hills Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $137,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $59.09. 5,140,041 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,940,590. The company has a market cap of $72.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.41 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.69.

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.