Ibex Wealth Advisors Invests $18.26 Million in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ibex Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 337,333 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $18,256,000. Williams Companies accounts for about 2.1% of Ibex Wealth Advisors' holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake 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 worth $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 224.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in Williams Companies by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $136,461,000 after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $56.55. The stock had a trading volume of 6,500,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,756,042. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.61. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Company 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.