The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Ausbil Investment Management Ltd

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 279,781 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,071 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up approximately 5.4% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.42.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.40. 201,984 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,658,103. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.98 and a 12-month high of $43.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

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.