The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,918 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,748 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $12,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted 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 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 research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock traded down $2.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $58.98. 11,516,921 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,524,564. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock's 50 day moving average is $57.36 and its 200 day moving average is $54.86. The company has a market cap of $71.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.