Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes $22.01 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 406,943 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $22,014,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $55.17. 2,375,884 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,654,184. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $67.27 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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. 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.07.

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.