Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Acquires 3,519,370 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 45% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares for a total of approximately $677.6 million worth of stock.
• Analysts have varied ratings for Williams Companies, with Scotiabank and Wells Fargo raising their target prices, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from "hold" to "sell", resulting in a consensus rating of "hold" and an average target price of $62.00.
• The most recent earnings report indicated a quarterly earnings miss with $0.46 earnings per share compared to the consensus estimate of $0.49, amidst a year-over-year revenue growth of 19%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 45.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,519,370 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.93% of Williams Companies worth $677,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,489,000 after buying an additional 6,816 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 27.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,081,000 after acquiring an additional 87,031 shares in the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 14.0% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,224,000 after buying an additional 7,618 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $58.54. 865,496 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,776,954. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.25. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.79 and a 12 month high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

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.