Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires 26,084 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 209,842 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 26,084 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $11,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Truist Financial increased 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. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup upped their price target 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. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

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Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $4.42 on Friday, hitting $54.61. The stock had a trading volume of 18,979,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,574,236. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $57.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.02. The stock has a market cap of $66.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 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.