Castle Hook Partners LP Has $136.46 Million Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Castle Hook Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up about 2.6% of Castle Hook Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Castle Hook Partners LP owned 0.25% of Williams Companies worth $136,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Williams Companies by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 551,136 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $25,159,000 after buying an additional 37,379 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 49,599 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,264,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 19,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 103.1% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 12,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Williams Companies by 0.6% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 175,294 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $58.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $52.12 and its 200-day moving average is $46.08.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WMB. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.79.

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.