DNB Asset Management AS Increases Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 217,662 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,753 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 16.5% in the second quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 26,166 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 84.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,912 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 10,976 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 56.3% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,446 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.83. The stock had a trading volume of 9,954,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,619,592. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.49 and a one year high of $45.10. The company has a market capitalization of $52.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.01.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.08.

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.