SailingStone Capital Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

SailingStone Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 308,778 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 92,124 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up about 5.6% of SailingStone Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $58.75. 4,562,005 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,625,204. The stock's 50-day moving average is $58.28 and its 200-day moving average is $56.98. The stock has a market cap of $71.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.88 and a 52 week 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.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.50.

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.