Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Raises Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1,107.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,936,266 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,775,849 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $104,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Bearing Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Alteri Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $906,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,033,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 112.8% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 13,941 shares during the period. Finally, Alaethes Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 41,988 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,272,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.77.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $60.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.63 and a 12-month high of $61.67. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $57.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.