5,780 Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Acquired by PDS Planning Inc

PDS Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,780 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.42.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $42.48 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.20 and a 1 year high of $43.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $51.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.95 and a 200-day moving average of $37.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.