Ballentine Partners LLC Raises Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 29,974 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 3,324 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $60.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $73.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $56.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.92. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $60.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. 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 an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

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.