Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 941,804 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,340 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $50,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 25,091 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after buying an additional 5,742 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 42,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after buying an additional 4,155 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $57.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $69.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.51. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.84 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.07.

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.