Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 108,611 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $5,878,000.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Evoke Wealth LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Williams Companies by 78.2% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 196,459 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,711,000 after buying an additional 86,227 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 6,674 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,580 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 192,351 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,410,000 after acquiring an additional 26,951 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.
Williams Companies Stock Performance
WMB traded down $0.16 on Friday, hitting $59.60. 13,202,488 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,181,508. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.67 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Williams Companies Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have commented on WMB. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.21.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Williams Companies
Insider Activity at Williams Companies
In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, 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 have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Williams Companies Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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