Slocum Gordon & Co LLP Has $3.53 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Slocum Gordon & Co LLP cut its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,277 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises about 2.9% of Slocum Gordon & Co LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after buying an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,470,000 after acquiring an additional 67,016 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $149,326,000 after acquiring an additional 108,675 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $56.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.26 billion, a PE ratio of 23.63, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.