Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 109.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $224,203,000 after buying an additional 1,647,469 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,220,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 5.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $817,736,000 after buying an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 20.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,158 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $52.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.83 and a 200 day moving average of $43.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $52.82.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.62.

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.