Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Boosts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1,107.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,936,266 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 1,775,849 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.16% of Williams Companies worth $104,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,346,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 48.8% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $1.52 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $58.65. 13,643,610 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,653,001. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.76 and a 52-week high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $71.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted 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 report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.77.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.