Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 42,618 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 446,689 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,618 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $24,175,000 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 stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $330,470,000 after acquiring an additional 67,016 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $165,130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 3.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $149,326,000 after acquiring an additional 108,675 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $57.93. 2,790,102 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,490,736. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.85 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $55.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.