Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 70.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,377 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 42,751 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 57.1% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,549 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 10,374 shares during the period. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $299,000. Graypoint LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 14,497 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $662,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $71,952,000 after buying an additional 35,981 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 131,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,107,758 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.46 on Wednesday, hitting $56.41. 7,875,344 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,903,792. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.33. 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 company has a market cap of $68.78 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.56 and a 52 week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current 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 is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company 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 research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.07.

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.