Czech National Bank Purchases 15,997 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 264,306 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,997 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $410,064,000 after purchasing an additional 311,530 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $330,470,000 after purchasing an additional 67,016 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $165,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMB. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $1.94 on Tuesday, reaching $57.97. 9,838,812 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,801,775. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.46. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $60.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $70.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.