IFM Investors Pty Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 386,482 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,896 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $23,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in 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 holdings in 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 valued at $1,687,797,000 after acquiring an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Williams Companies by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $824,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,618 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $575,103,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.1%

WMB stock traded down $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.47. 4,606,763 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,028,907. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.41 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.25.

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.