Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 551,136 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 37,379 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $538,482,000 after acquiring an additional 144,713 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $330,470,000 after buying an additional 67,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $259,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,158 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on 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 target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.79.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE WMB traded up $0.38 on Friday, reaching $58.52. The company had a trading volume of 3,638,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,555,747. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.65 and a 200-day moving average of $46.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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%. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.