Nordea Investment Management AB Has $40.05 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 106.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 738,716 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 381,092 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.06% of Williams Companies worth $40,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $545,000. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 1,855.7% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 39,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 402.9% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 91,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,199,000 after purchasing an additional 73,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $55.55 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.98. The firm has a market cap of $67.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.