Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 73,657 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $3,986,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in 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 during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $1,346,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.77.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE:WMB traded down $1.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $58.65. 13,643,610 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,652,998. The business has a 50-day moving average of $57.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.57. 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 12-month low of $38.76 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.52 billion, a PE ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 109.29%.

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.