Toronto Dominion Bank Buys 361,370 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 82.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 799,160 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 361,370 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $43,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,583 shares of company stock valued at $6,095,318. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.39. 12,301,540 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,723,608. 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. The company has a market cap of $73.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.00, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $58.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.23.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven equities research 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 company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.75.

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.