ArchPoint Investors Acquires Shares of 4,200 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

ArchPoint Investors bought a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,200 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,224,000 after buying an additional 7,618 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,138,814 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $169,873,000 after acquiring an additional 488,322 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $1,252,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,258,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $68,101,000 after purchasing an additional 25,359 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 36,717 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 6,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $54.61 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. 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 50-day moving average of $57.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.09. The company has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS 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, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 3.66%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

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.