Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 5,475 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 9.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,345 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,475 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,213 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 540,533 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Williams Companies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $824,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $575,103,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $58.25. The stock had a trading volume of 7,545,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,088,732. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.41 and a one year high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.93.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Barclays increased 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 note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.69.

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.