Two Sigma Advisers LP Invests $5.05 Million in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 93,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $5,049,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Barclays PLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,636 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,583 shares of company stock worth $6,095,318. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3%

WMB stock traded down $0.18 on Friday, reaching $60.09. 1,690,394 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,682,326. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.11 and a one year 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 company has a market cap of $73.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.19.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 106.95%.

Williams Companies 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.