Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Takes Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,981 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,567,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,498,141. The stock has a market cap of $51.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.49 and a twelve month high of $45.10.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. US Capital Advisors downgraded Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. CIBC upped their target price on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.77.

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.