Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 27,089 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 30.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 116,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,089 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after buying an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $330,470,000 after acquiring an additional 67,016 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $149,326,000 after acquiring an additional 108,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $55.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.11. The company has a market cap of $68.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 84.39%.

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.