Kessler Investment Group LLC Takes $327,000 Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,467 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370,974 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 6,407.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $133,772,000 after buying an additional 2,204,090 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $273,587,000 after buying an additional 2,065,906 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE WMB traded down $0.18 on Friday, reaching $62.69. The stock had a trading volume of 27,809,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,945,326. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.41 and a 1 year high of $63.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.62. The company has a market capitalization of $76.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.65.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.25.

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.