Cambridge Financial Group Inc. Makes New $8.77 Million Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Cambridge Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 162,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,771,000. Williams Companies comprises approximately 3.6% of Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.24 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 3.38%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

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.