National Pension Service Buys 94,275 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 3.5% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 94,275 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $167.5 million.
• Insider selling activity included COO Larry C. Larsen selling 4,500 shares at an average price of $58.47, while total insider sales over the last ninety days amounted to 8,500 shares valued at $507,875.
• Williams Companies recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing a 3.5% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 100.50%.

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,802,368 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 94,275 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.23% of Williams Companies worth $167,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $43,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 7.6% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 437,902 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,133,000 after acquiring an additional 30,959 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 7.9% in the first quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 756,847 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $45,229,000 after acquiring an additional 55,538 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $273,000. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 61.5% in the first quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 1,017,483 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $60,805,000 after acquiring an additional 387,373 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $57.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.24. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.82 and a 52 week high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.00.

Williams Companies Company 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.

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