Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Invests $445,000 in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 9,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 15.7% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Williams Companies by 145.5% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 95,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 56,509 shares during the period. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,364,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $1,036,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $52.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 701,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,224,267. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.36. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $52.85. The company has a market capitalization of $63.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.62.

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.