3,737 Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Purchased by Hudock Inc.

Hudock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,737 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,074,000 after buying an additional 10,950 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on WMB shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $54.83 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $61.46.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

Williams Companies 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.