Groupama Asset Managment Decreases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Groupama Asset Managment reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 53.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,665 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 42,650 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,578,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,687,797,000 after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $306,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,714,358 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $92,854,000 after purchasing an additional 380,051 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value 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 trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $4.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.61. The company had a trading volume of 18,979,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,574,236. The firm has a market cap of $66.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.02.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted 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 fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Barclays increased 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. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.07.

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.