Alps Advisors Inc. Purchases 54,692 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 14.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 425,309 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 54,692 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $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 fourth quarter worth $327,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 160,267 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,674,000 after purchasing an additional 7,186 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 19,232 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 5,138 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 30,852 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 13,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.69.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.8%

WMB traded up $0.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $58.25. The company had a trading volume of 7,545,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,105,000. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $59.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.96. The company has a market cap of $71.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.