Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Raises Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 493,347 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 134,603 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $22,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Williams Companies by 8.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 98,313 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,891 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 141.9% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 7,786 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,364,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $271,000. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 46,619 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. CIBC lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $2.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.33. The stock had a trading volume of 8,173,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,253,613. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.14. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $55.79. The firm has a market cap of $67.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The firm's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

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.