FNY Investment Advisers LLC Takes Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 224.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after purchasing an additional 922,550 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in Williams Companies by 31.7% during the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after buying an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after buying an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 26.8% in the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,771,000 after buying an additional 443,423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of WMB opened at $57.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.46. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.