Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 152.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,142 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,744 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% during the 4th 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 period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,405,951 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $400,810,000 after purchasing an additional 166,741 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.07.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Williams Companies
Insider Activity
In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.
Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %
Williams Companies stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.78. 6,528,794 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,181,012. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.55. The firm has a market cap of $74.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company's 50-day moving average is $57.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.17.
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Williams Companies Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.
About Williams Companies
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Williams Companies, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Williams Companies wasn't on the list.
While Williams Companies currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat has just released its list of 20 stocks that Wall Street analysts hate. These companies may appear to have good fundamentals, but top analysts smell something seriously rotten. Are any of these companies lurking around your portfolio?
Get This Free Report
