Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 16,627 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 567,763 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 16,627 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $30,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.07.

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Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $55.86. The company had a trading volume of 981,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,756,337. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $56.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,583 shares of company stock worth $7,107,758 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.