Quadrature Capital Ltd Has $2.17 Million Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Quadrature Capital Ltd reduced its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 45.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,349 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 52,403 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. StockNews.com raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.42.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $41.26 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.24 and a 52-week high of $41.89. The company has a market capitalization of $50.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.83%.

About Williams Companies

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.