Amundi Purchases 1,964,421 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Amundi lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.72% of Williams Companies worth $495,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.07.

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Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.46 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.41. 7,875,344 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,903,792. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.56 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $68.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business's 50 day moving average is $56.71 and its 200-day moving average is $53.33.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,583 shares of company stock worth $7,107,758 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Company 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.