Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 129.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,171 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,927 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 24.4% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 3,477 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 195,037 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,903,000 after purchasing an additional 51,935 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 548.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,334 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 105,077 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,797,000 after purchasing an additional 17,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 7.5 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $54.61 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.95. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.