Private Advisor Group LLC Acquires 4,405 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,830 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,405 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 6.6% in the first quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,212 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 63.0% during the first quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.1% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 104,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $6,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $432,000. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 11.1% during the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,747 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $59.38 on Monday. 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 $72.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $59.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.16.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Williams Companies's 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.

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