Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Buys 7,117 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,117 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $410,064,000 after purchasing an additional 311,530 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,470,000 after purchasing an additional 67,016 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $57.97 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.95 and a 200-day moving average of $49.46. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.36. The stock has a market cap of $70.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. 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 earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

About Williams Companies

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.