Creative Planning Boosts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Creative Planning boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 199,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 17,983 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $322,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 44.3% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 4,811 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 52.5% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 9,698 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 3,337 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.7% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 37,480 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $52.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.07. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $52.82. The company has a market capitalization of $63.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.62.

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.