ING Groep NV Has $1.94 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

ING Groep NV boosted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 4,155 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after acquiring an additional 14,672 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1,855.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 39,880 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $1,036,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in Williams Companies by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,335,000 after buying an additional 16,064 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.54.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

WMB opened at $56.55 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $57.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.94 and its 200 day moving average is $44.93.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.