Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 11,179 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 4.2% in Q1, owning 279,355 shares valued at approximately $16.69 million.
• Williams Companies declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.5%, payable on September 29th.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $61.77 for Williams Companies, with a mix of buy and hold ratings reflecting moderate confidence.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279,355 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,179 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% during the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. 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 Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock remained flat at $57.89 during trading hours on Friday. 5,384,629 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,032,047. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.79 and a 52-week high of $63.45. The business's 50 day moving average is $59.32 and its 200-day moving average is $58.26.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.