6,035 Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Bought by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,035 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $116,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $235,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 175,699 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,021,000 after buying an additional 34,383 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 153,081 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,988,000 after buying an additional 6,199 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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, CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $60.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.25 and a 200-day moving average of $54.29. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $74.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.