Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Williams Companies worth $165,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after buying an additional 14,672 shares during the period. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 1,855.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after buying an additional 39,880 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $1,036,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,335,000 after buying an additional 16,064 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 Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.54.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $56.55 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $57.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.03. The company has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

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.