Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,642,310 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,050 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $216,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 32.3% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 10,414 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 1,001.1% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 101,026 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,375,000 after acquiring an additional 91,851 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 42.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 98,677 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after acquiring an additional 29,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $319,000. 85.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.33.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $35.43 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $27.80 and a one year high of $36.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $34.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.01.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 24.52% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be issued a $0.4475 dividend. This represents a $1.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.27%.

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 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.