The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Bought by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 339.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,856 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,245 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 51.2% in the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 16,214 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.0% during the third quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 557,049 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $18,780,000 after buying an additional 21,634 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 9.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 24,589 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 2,107 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $316,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $727,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $40.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.27 and a 1 year high of $41.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.67%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. US Capital Advisors downgraded Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.73.

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.