Voleon Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 67,036 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 67,036 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,628,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.0 %

WMB stock opened at $59.67 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.69 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $57.64 and its 200-day moving average is $56.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

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.