MUFG Securities EMEA plc Invests $1.02 Million in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• MUFG Securities EMEA plc has invested approximately $1.02 million in Williams Companies, acquiring 16,999 shares of the pipeline company in the 1st quarter.
• Williams Companies reported earnings per share of $0.46 in its latest quarter, missing analysts' estimates by $0.03, despite a revenue increase of 19.0% year-over-year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, which will be paid to shareholders on September 29th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.5%.

MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,999 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,016,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 45.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $677,623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the fourth 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 increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6,407.2% in the first 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 increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 69.1% in the fourth 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. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,718,333.60. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB remained flat at $57.89 during trading hours on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 5,384,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,923,967. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.25. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $42.79 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market cap of $70.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.50%.

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.