Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 1,135,195 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 147.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,135,195 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.16% of Williams Companies worth $103,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $575,103,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $59.77. The stock had a trading volume of 8,266,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,500,109. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $72.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $57.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.