Bailard Inc. Makes New Investment in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,230 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $432,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $327,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 973 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 78.2% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 196,459 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,711,000 after buying an additional 86,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 209,344 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,330,000 after buying an additional 14,307 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $1.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $59.38. 7,919,170 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,112,531. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $63.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WMB. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.