Quantessence Capital LLC Makes New $1.88 Million Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 34,689 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,877,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,346,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 48.8% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 19,533 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 6,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded down $0.56 on Friday, reaching $59.05. The stock had a trading volume of 4,471,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,635,267. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.69 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50-day moving average is $57.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.77.

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.