Polymer Capital Management US LLC Acquires New Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,756 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $995,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC upped their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $56.24. 7,477,342 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,666,684. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $68.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.43.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % 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 worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by 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.