Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 209,344 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,307 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $11,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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Williams Companies Trading Down 1.6 %

WMB traded down $0.99 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,935,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,799,148. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.75, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $57.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, CIBC lifted 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. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.

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.