Kestra Investment Management LLC Makes New $1 Million Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 21,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,000,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 217,662 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,251,000 after acquiring an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $124,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,154 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 56,871 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 14.4% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,445 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.79.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $58.52 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.38. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $71.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.