Centiva Capital LP Acquires Shares of 18,228 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 18,228 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $986,000.

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

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE WMB traded up $0.61 on Friday, reaching $57.67. The company had a trading volume of 3,845,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,656,954. The company's fifty day moving average is $57.91 and its 200-day moving average is $56.70. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.57 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. 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 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.