Trexquant Investment LP Takes $5.58 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 103,068 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $5,578,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of WMB traded down $1.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $54.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,262,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,654,657. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $66.53 billion, a PE ratio of 29.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50 day moving average is $57.23 and its 200 day moving average is $55.29.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank upped 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 company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.

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.