Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 27.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 87,031 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $24,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 266.6% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,694 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,426,000 after purchasing an additional 113,227 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 10,561 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $9,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,618 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 72,904 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,946,000 after purchasing an additional 17,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 800.6% in the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 63,509 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,437,000 after purchasing an additional 56,457 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE WMB opened at $60.44 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.06 and a 200-day moving average of $57.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.41 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors 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 yield of 3.31%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.25.

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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