World Investment Advisors Purchases 10,671 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

World Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 89.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,671 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,808,000. Private Portfolio Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 9,531 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $5,578,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $96,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,687,797,000 after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $54.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $57.25 and its 200 day moving average is $55.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

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.