34,836 Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Bought by Convergence Investment Partners LLC

Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 34,836 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $2,082,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $26,000. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMB. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research 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. 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 report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE WMB traded down $0.91 on Friday, hitting $57.85. 4,957,340 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,834,162. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.38 and a 200 day moving average of $58.18. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The company has a market capitalization of $70.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend 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 presently 106.95%.

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.