May Barnhard Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 4,647 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

May Barnhard Investments LLC purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,647 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,120 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,873,473 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $131,174,000 after acquiring an additional 38,594 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $322,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $56.08 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $56.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.37.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 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.