Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Purchases 384 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 267,800 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.25 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.38 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $56.53 and a 200 day moving average of $52.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Williams Companies Company 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.