Platform Technology Partners Raises Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Platform Technology Partners increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,860 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the quarter. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Motco grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 306.2% in the fourth quarter. Motco now owns 784 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 52.5% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1,178.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 946 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 127.6% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. CIBC started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. TD Securities reduced their price target on Williams Companies from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.27.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $34.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,399,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,871,585. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.80 and a 12 month high of $35.46. The stock has a market cap of $41.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 17.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 11th will be given a $0.4475 dividend. This represents a $1.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 8th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Scott A. Hallam sold 7,194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $223,014.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 241,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,482,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Scott A. Hallam sold 7,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $223,014.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 241,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,482,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Scott A. Hallam sold 7,193 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $237,369.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 226,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,490,109. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,581 shares of company stock valued at $690,591 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

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 Transco and Northwest natural gas pipelines; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region, as well as various petrochemical and feedstock pipelines.