iA Global Asset Management Inc. Buys 43,395 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 454.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 43,395 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE WMB traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,781,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,568,675. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.84. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.49 and a 1 year high of $45.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $51.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.