Prudential PLC Has $16.57 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Prudential PLC lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 306,133 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 67,803 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.07.

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Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB traded down $1.81 on Wednesday, reaching $52.53. 4,115,952 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,610,955. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $57.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.21. 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 firm has a market cap of $64.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.