Advisors Preferred LLC Acquires Shares of 34,400 Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 34,400 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% during the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of WMB traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $57.85. The company had a trading volume of 4,903,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,825,026. The company's 50 day moving average price is $59.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.18. The stock has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.41 and a 52 week high of $63.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.77.

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.