Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. Has $620.16 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. trimmed its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,458,927 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 849,820 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises about 7.9% of Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. owned 0.94% of Williams Companies worth $620,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WMB. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.47. 5,750,609 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,628,474. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.97. The stock has a market cap of $71.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.69 and a one year high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.