Diversified Trust Co Buys 16,742 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 99.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,628 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 16,742 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 4,056 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 7,475 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 106.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 738,716 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $40,046,000 after purchasing an additional 381,092 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $2,926,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 34,400 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,986,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,862,522. The stock has a market cap of $68.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.08.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.07.

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.