CIBC Asset Management Inc Reduces Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

CIBC Asset Management Inc lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 8,630 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $12,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $86,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,667 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 224.1% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $60,909,000 after purchasing an additional 922,550 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $136,461,000 after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.44. The company had a trading volume of 11,081,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,709,167. The firm has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $56.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.07. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $34.26 and a one year high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its 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%. On average, research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.