Heritage Trust Co Takes $532,000 Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Heritage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,833 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $575,103,000. Amundi grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,555,667 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,135,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Williams Companies Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $58.52. 5,439,297 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,644,896. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $57.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.59. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $71.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business'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 value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WMB. 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.07.

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.