MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $17.46 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 322,612 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $17,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,213 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,687,797,000 after acquiring an additional 540,533 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $575,103,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $495,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Eight investment 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.77.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.47. The company had a trading volume of 5,750,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,628,474. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.99. The company has a market capitalization of $71.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.69 and a twelve month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.