Consolidated Planning Corp Raises Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,335 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,691 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after purchasing an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $136,461,000 after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $54.83 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.49.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

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.