Pines Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,130 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Williams Companies by 2.6% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 12.6% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho upped their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.9 %

Williams Companies stock traded up $1.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,841,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,691,629. The stock's fifty day moving average is $55.95 and its 200 day moving average is $49.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

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.