Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Acquires 285 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,331 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 266.6% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,694 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,426,000 after purchasing an additional 113,227 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter. RW Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $233,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 54,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,939,000 after buying an additional 10,511 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of WMB opened at $57.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $56.15 and its 200-day moving average is $52.25. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.26 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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 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.