HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC cut its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 45.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 83,636 shares during the quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted 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 during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $2.15 on Monday, reaching $56.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,402,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,623,856. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.69 and a 52-week high of $61.67. 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.91. The company has a market cap of $68.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note 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 stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.77.

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.