XTX Topco Ltd Acquires New Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,639 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $149,326,000 after acquiring an additional 108,675 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $1,346,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.5% in 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 boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 48.8% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 19,533 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 6,409 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of WMB traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.59. The company had a trading volume of 7,481,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,626,272. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $57.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.69 and a 1 year high of $61.67. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 90 days, insiders have 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 equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. Scotiabank raised 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. CIBC raised 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. 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.77.

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.