Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Purchases 14,863 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Sierra Summit Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 166.3% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 14,863 shares, bringing their total holdings to 23,801 shares worth approximately $1.42 million.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 3.5%, with a payout ratio of 100.50%.
• Several analysts have recently issued ratings on Williams Companies, with TD Cowen initiating coverage with a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price, while the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 166.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,801 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,863 shares during the quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 45.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $677,623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $190,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370,974 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6,407.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $133,772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204,090 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 69.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,065,906 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock remained flat at $57.89 on Friday. 5,384,629 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,923,967. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $42.79 and a 12-month high of $63.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

About Williams Companies

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.