First Hawaiian Bank Purchases 12,100 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 29.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,795 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,100 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.75.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.39. 12,301,540 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,723,608. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.22. The company has a market cap of $73.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,583 shares of company stock valued at $6,095,318 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.