CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Acquires New Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,394 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 8,990 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 10,112 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $403,801,000 after buying an additional 2,039,703 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $322,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 45,506 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 7,293 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $51.05 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $51.19. The company has a market cap of $62.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.08.

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.