Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases Shares of 7,209 Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Welch & Forbes LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 7,209 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,489,000 after acquiring an additional 6,816 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,081,000 after purchasing an additional 87,031 shares during the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 10,561 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,618 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,919,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,119,515. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.41 and a fifty-two week high of $63.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $72.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The firm 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 posted $0.59 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set 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 report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.77.

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.