Norges Bank purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,626,447 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $575,103,000. Norges Bank owned 0.87% of Williams Companies as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its position in Williams Companies by 319.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $995,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies
In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.07.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on WMB
Williams Companies Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.58 during trading on Monday, reaching $59.77. The stock had a trading volume of 8,266,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,500,109. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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%. 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.
Williams Companies Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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