The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Position Increased by Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,789 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $817,736,000 after buying an additional 1,175,628 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $538,482,000 after purchasing an additional 144,713 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $403,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039,703 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $410,064,000 after purchasing an additional 311,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.4% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 8,540,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $332,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010,658 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WMB opened at $44.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $45.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 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 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.50.

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.