Nuveen LLC Makes New $335.42 Million Investment in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,612,776 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,419,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 131,163,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,838,312,000 after purchasing an additional 807,019 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.6% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,047,025,000 after purchasing an additional 932,998 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $824,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 45.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $677,623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMB. Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. TD Cowen began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $57.89 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.25. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.79 and a 52-week high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.50%.

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.