Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Increases Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 5,827.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 248,518 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 244,325 shares during the period. Aurora Private Wealth Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Napa Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $2.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $62.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,378,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,852,197. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $76.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $59.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.51. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $62.98.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.18%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.25.

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.