Evoke Wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,765 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 64.6% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,043 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 8,257 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $116,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $256,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 160.4% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 33,960 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 20,917 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of WMB opened at $58.38 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.16 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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’s 50-day moving average is $56.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.75.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WMB. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.