Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 189,549 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,232 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $11,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.09 on Tuesday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.04. The stock has a market cap of $72.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $63.45.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.69.

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.

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