USA Financial Formulas Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 23,009 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,245,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.8 %

Williams Companies stock traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $59.06. The company had a trading volume of 4,019,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,622,063. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.46. The firm has a market cap of $72.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given 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 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.