Sei Investments Co. Trims Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sei Investments Co. trimmed its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,103,660 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 29,025 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.09% of Williams Companies worth $59,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at $116,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 7.2% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 13,714 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 22.8% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 146,333 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $6,680,000 after acquiring an additional 27,186 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 52,845 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,412,000 after purchasing an additional 16,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,051,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,181,012. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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 fifty day moving average of $57.20 and a 200 day moving average of $54.17. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.55.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently 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.