Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 52,906 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 113.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,703 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 52,906 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $59.47. The company had a trading volume of 3,129,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,616,385. The firm has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a PE ratio of 32.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.27 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Williams Companies 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.