Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 192,351 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,951 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 973 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $270,000. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Glenview Trust co grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 150.8% in the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 11,288 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 6,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 941,804 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $50,970,000 after purchasing an additional 97,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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, Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.21.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Williams Companies
Insider Activity
In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.
Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3 %
NYSE WMB traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.60. 13,202,488 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,184,065. The stock has a market cap of $72.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.93. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.46.
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Williams Companies Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 109.29%.
About Williams Companies
(
Free Report)
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.
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