The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Holdings Decreased by Point72 Europe London LLP

Point72 Europe London LLP lessened its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 261,884 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 56,016 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 19,758 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 6,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $217,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $189,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction 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 approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $58.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.78. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.88 and a 1 year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 106.95%.

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.