The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3,490.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $86,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 39,913 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after buying an additional 2,829 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $285,000. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $203,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $189,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $57.95 on Thursday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.95 and a 200 day moving average of $49.46. The firm has a market cap of $70.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies 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.