Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 10,561 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,561 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 24,513 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 3,088 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,361 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,504,850 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $81,367,000 after acquiring an additional 26,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $60.47. The stock had a trading volume of 4,844,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,751,100. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.74 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65. 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 simple moving average of $58.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.32.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued 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 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.25.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.