Aviva PLC Has $68.18 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Aviva PLC lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,259,705 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 142,002 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned about 0.10% of Williams Companies worth $68,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $575,103,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $86,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,667 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Williams Companies by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $103,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,195 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,375,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,654,184. 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 twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The stock's 50 day moving average is $57.20 and its 200-day moving average is $55.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.31 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 11.92 % 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 worth $7,563,278 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.