Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Takes $703,000 Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE bought a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $995,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $57.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. 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. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

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.