Woodline Partners LP Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 73,207 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $3,962,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the 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. Insiders have sold 113,583 shares of company stock worth $6,095,318 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of WMB stock traded down $0.18 on Friday, hitting $60.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,690,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,682,326. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's 50 day moving average is $58.35 and its 200-day moving average is $57.19. 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 52-week low of $40.11 and a 52-week 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 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 firm 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 firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.95%.

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.