Orser Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Orser Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 30,618 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,830,000. Williams Companies accounts for 1.4% of Orser Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 319.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Myriad Asset Management US LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $995,000. ING Groep NV raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 266.6% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,694 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,426,000 after acquiring an additional 113,227 shares in the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 531,500 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $28,765,000 after acquiring an additional 115,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,224,000 after acquiring an additional 7,618 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $60.16. The company had a trading volume of 7,444,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,757,475. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The business's 50 day moving average price is $58.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.30. The firm has a market cap of $73.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.75.

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.