Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 301,930 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 63,224 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $1,346,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 19,533 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 6,409 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 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 Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.67. The stock had a trading volume of 4,769,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,627,966. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.29. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.69 and a 1 year 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 firm has a market cap of $72.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.