Independence Bank of Kentucky Purchases 1,364 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,409 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,364 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 36,554 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 60.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 12.3% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,607 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at $12,488,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued 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 an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $55.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.12 and a 200-day moving average of $50.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a market cap of $67.57 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.