TD Private Client Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 26.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,189 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 11,741 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after buying an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in 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 valued at $190,358,000 after buying an additional 3,370,974 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6,407.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $133,772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $273,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,906 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.
Williams Companies Stock Up 0.8%
Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.25. The stock had a trading volume of 7,545,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,961,457. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.41 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $59.41 and its 200-day moving average is $57.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.65.
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The company 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 firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Williams Companies Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.69.
View Our Latest Analysis on WMB
Williams Companies Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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