Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Has $19.27 Million Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 322,489 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,442 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $19,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.25.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.47. 4,606,763 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,028,907. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $59.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.76. The stock has a market cap of $71.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 4.33 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The company's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company 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.