207,074 Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Acquired by Moore Capital Management LP

Moore Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 207,074 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $11,207,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.77. 4,583,107 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,643,278. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.88 and a 1-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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $58.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.78. The firm has a market cap of $71.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Williams Companies's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.