National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 922,550 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 224.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 922,550 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.11% of Williams Companies worth $60,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $259,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,158 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $136,461,000 after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $325,726,000 after purchasing an additional 618,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 26.8% in the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $95,771,000 after purchasing an additional 443,423 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $56.85. 8,371,690 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,645,309. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.92. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year 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 $69.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.05.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.07.

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.