Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 406,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,014,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $54.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.02. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly 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%. Analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. 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.