The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 24.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 641,869 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 207,732 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned about 0.05% of Williams Companies worth $34,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,025,795,000 after buying an additional 5,068,738 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2,303.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after buying an additional 3,370,974 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its position in Williams Companies by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $273,587,000 after buying an additional 2,065,906 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Williams Companies by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $495,215,000 after buying an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $57.04. 6,472,872 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,656,216. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.73. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.57 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price target on 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 upped their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

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.