Miramar Capital LLC Takes $4.29 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Miramar Capital LLC purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 93,962 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $4,289,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,221,000 after acquiring an additional 14,672 shares during the period. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1,855.7% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 39,880 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $1,036,000. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 16,064 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.55. 7,461,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,889,876. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $49.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $57.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America started coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 23.52 % 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.