Aigen Investment Management LP Invests $322,000 in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Blackstone Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 109.1% in the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $252,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $57,220,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 5.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $817,736,000 after buying an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 20.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $259,985,000 after buying an additional 1,024,158 shares during the period. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its position in Williams Companies by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 5,896,375 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $229,782,000 after acquiring an additional 623,820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $56.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.69 and a 200 day moving average of $44.81. The company has a market cap of $68.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $57.33. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.54.

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.