Rhumbline Advisers Grows Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,431,655 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 53,947 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.20% of Williams Companies worth $145,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.35 on Thursday, hitting $60.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,844,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,758,804. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.43 and a 200-day moving average of $57.34. The company has a market capitalization of $73.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The 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 will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.