The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stake Increased by Fractal Investments LLC

Fractal Investments LLC boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMBFree Report) by 12.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 416,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,500 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for approximately 3.2% of Fractal Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Fractal Investments LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $19,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 330.0% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 174,671 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,974,000 after buying an additional 134,052 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 546,481 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $24,947,000 after acquiring an additional 6,140 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 17.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,379,577 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $108,628,000 after acquiring an additional 348,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,775,000 after acquiring an additional 7,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on WMB shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Williams Companies

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $53.05 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $53.30. The stock has a market cap of $64.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMBGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.55%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)

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