The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Castle Hook Partners LP

Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 69.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,065,906 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up approximately 3.4% of Castle Hook Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Castle Hook Partners LP owned approximately 0.41% of Williams Companies worth $273,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC upped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.50.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.67. The stock had a trading volume of 3,845,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,656,954. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.57 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $70.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The business's 50 day moving average price is $57.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.70.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.