Machina Capital S.A.S. Increases Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 52.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,207 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,562 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC raised 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 valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management raised 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 valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,712 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.3% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.5%

WMB traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $57.85. 4,957,534 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,106,748. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.19. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.41 and a 52-week high of $63.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.77.

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.