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

Fractal Investments LLC boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) 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.

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:WMB) 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

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.