Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Has $57.59 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 963,707 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 11,894 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for approximately 1.0% of Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned 0.08% of Williams Companies worth $57,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,687,797,000 after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $824,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $575,103,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.6%

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.74. The stock had a trading volume of 8,203,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,796,789. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.37. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $72.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WMB. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.25.

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.