Evercore Wealth Management LLC Sells 20,769 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Evercore Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,762,209 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 20,769 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up approximately 2.2% of Evercore Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Evercore Wealth Management LLC owned 0.23% of Williams Companies worth $149,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Syon Capital LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 12,819 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 1,979 shares in the last quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP now owns 217,284 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $12,138,000 after acquiring an additional 6,953 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 81,428 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 15,357 shares in the last quarter. Quantessence Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $1,877,000. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 3,949 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. CIBC upped their price target 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 shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.77.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.48 and a 200 day moving average of $55.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.69 and a 1-year high of $61.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 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.

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