BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires 27,186 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 22.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 146,333 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,186 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Dearborn Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% during the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 31,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.54.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

WMB stock opened at $59.65 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.35 and its 200-day moving average is $45.73. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. 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.