Vise Technologies Inc. Has $1.49 Million Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Vise Technologies Inc. grew its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 123.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,608 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,244 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $995,000. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 266.6% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,694 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,426,000 after purchasing an additional 113,227 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.50.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.06. 15,271,867 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,678,936. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.82, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.06 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

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.