Marshall Wace LLP Grows Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2,303.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,370,974 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.29% of Williams Companies worth $190,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $521,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,564 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 264,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $14,326,000 after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,379 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 173,128 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,370,000 after acquiring an additional 7,249 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was 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. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of WMB stock traded down $1.91 on Monday, reaching $56.71. 1,196,473 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,607,930. The business's 50 day moving average price is $57.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.91. 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 12-month low of $37.69 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $69.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Williams Companies 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.