Czech National Bank Acquires 15,679 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 279,985 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,679 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,687,797,000 after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $824,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,618 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $575,103,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.4%

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.26. The stock had a trading volume of 5,012,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,749,555. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $58.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.75.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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. Company 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.