Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Increases Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 20.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,158 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% during the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $55.19 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36. The company has a market capitalization of $67.28 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.