Toronto Dominion Bank Boosts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 15.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 437,790 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,954 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $19,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $538,482,000 after purchasing an additional 144,713 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $410,064,000 after purchasing an additional 311,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 8.8% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $325,726,000 after buying an additional 618,056 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WMB traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.43. 7,224,173 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,354,839. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $60.36. The company has a market cap of $66.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Williams Companies Company 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.