The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 6,300 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $575,103,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 147.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $103,193,000 after buying an additional 1,135,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.77.

Williams Companies Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $2.55 during trading on Monday, reaching $56.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,859,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,614,569. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.91. The company has a market cap of $68.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. 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 $37.69 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, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

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.