Jennison Associates LLC Sells 14,306 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Jennison Associates LLC lowered its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,018,325 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 14,306 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.49% of Williams Companies worth $274,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 120.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.54.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2 %

WMB stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,488,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,253,761. The company's fifty day moving average price is $50.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $59.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Williams Companies's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.