Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires Shares of 38,827 Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 38,827 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $2,320,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.2% during the first quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,712 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.3% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.27. 7,834,823 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,791,986. The stock's 50-day moving average is $59.42 and its 200-day moving average is $58.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $73.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 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.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.