ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 6,196.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 774,668 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 762,364 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP owned 0.06% of Williams Companies worth $41,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 10.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,650,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $120,995,000 after buying an additional 243,302 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 1,546.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 106,098 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,843,000 after acquiring an additional 99,652 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 28,956 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 10,985 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,063,435 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $94,232,000 after purchasing an additional 117,113 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 40,505 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,849,000 after purchasing an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Williams Companies Stock Down 7.5 %

Shares of WMB traded down $4.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.61. 18,979,148 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,574,236. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a market cap of $66.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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 analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Williams Companies

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.