Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $68.10 Million Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,258,289 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,359 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.10% of Williams Companies worth $68,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $575,103,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $495,215,000 after buying an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 147.1% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $103,193,000 after buying an additional 1,135,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.64. 2,897,397 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,655,623. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.36. 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 company has a market cap of $67.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

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.