O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Buys 45,748 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 23.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,748 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $12,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $575,103,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during 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. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $495,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $86,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $103,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,195 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $59.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $72.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.31 and its 200 day moving average is $54.70. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 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.