Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Invests $415,000 in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,942 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $995,000. ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 266.6% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,694 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,426,000 after purchasing an additional 113,227 shares during the period. Fractal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 531,500 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $28,765,000 after purchasing an additional 115,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,618 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $0.09 on Tuesday, reaching $61.18. 9,977,359 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,755,832. The company has a market capitalization of $74.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.41 and a one year high of $61.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.36 and a 200 day moving average of $57.27.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.