DnB Asset Management AS Has $12.69 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,445 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,112 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $12,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 147.1% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $103,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,195 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 675.4% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 3,032 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $575,103,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Williams Companies by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 59,121 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,200,000 after purchasing an additional 11,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 72,904 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,946,000 after purchasing an additional 17,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.64. 4,847,642 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,639,160. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.81. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The company has a market cap of $75.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last quarter. 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.