Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,443,500 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 173,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Williams Companies worth $186,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,405,951 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $400,810,000 after purchasing an additional 166,741 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $56.08 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $68.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.07.

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.

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