Ninety One UK Ltd Has $23.02 Million Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 385,245 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 76,466 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $23,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in 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 worth $190,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370,974 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $133,772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in 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 valued at $273,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,906 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.69.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $57.69 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average is $59.45 and its 200-day moving average is $57.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.35 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.41 and a fifty-two week high of $63.45.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.

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