The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1,546.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 106,098 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 99,652 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.30. 7,505,519 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,306,849. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. 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 firm has a market cap of $68.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.66.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.