NewEdge Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,818 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 4,274 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.21.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $56.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.56. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.90 and a twelve month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

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.