Defined Wealth Management LLC Makes New $336,000 Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Defined Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,633 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6.9% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 37,435 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 131.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 15,236 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 8,663 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 33.5% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 77,691 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,617,000 after buying an additional 19,502 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 20.8% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,803 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,086,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $42.28 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.43. The firm has a market cap of $51.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.90 and a 52 week high of $43.22.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies 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.