Lockerman Financial Group Inc. Takes $229,000 Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Lockerman Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Williams Companies by 224.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.1 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.22 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The stock has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.