The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by MADDEN SECURITIES Corp

MADDEN SECURITIES Corp cut its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 17.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 13,375 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for 1.4% of MADDEN SECURITIES Corp's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2,303.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370,974 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6,407.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $133,772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $273,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,906 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised 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 note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.25.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,203,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,784,000. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $58.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.36. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.41 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The company has a market cap of $72.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

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.