Patten Group Inc. Boosts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Patten Group Inc. increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,441 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Shell Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 25,477 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $887,000 after acquiring an additional 9,568 shares in the last quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $317,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 106,116 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,696,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 248,217 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,645,000 after acquiring an additional 39,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 3,092,860 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $107,724,000 after acquiring an additional 793,695 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.3 %

WMB stock opened at $49.58 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $49.94. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $60.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.00 and a 200 day moving average of $42.21.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.