Mackenzie Financial Corp Buys 263,785 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,339,794 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 263,785 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.60% of Williams Companies worth $397,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $190,358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370,974 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $273,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $495,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.06. 15,271,867 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,678,936. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $73.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The company's fifty day moving average is $58.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.12. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.06 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92% 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 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. CIBC increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.50.

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.