Geode Capital Management LLC Has $1.69 Billion Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.56% of Williams Companies worth $1,687,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Trading Down 7.5 %

NYSE WMB traded down $4.42 on Friday, hitting $54.61. 18,979,148 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,574,236. The company's 50-day moving average price is $57.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.02. The company has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued 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 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.