Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 11,927 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 129.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,171 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 11,927 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 3.5 %

WMB traded down $1.96 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.46. The company had a trading volume of 4,262,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,654,657. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The company has a market cap of $66.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $57.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.29.

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Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 valued at $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. Scotiabank lifted 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. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target 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, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.07.

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.