Sit Investment Associates Inc. Increases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. grew its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276,110 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,670 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $575,103,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th 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. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $86,605,000 after buying an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,135,195 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $55.47. 6,150,078 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,661,677. The company's 50 day moving average price is $57.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. 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. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, 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 approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $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 sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target 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, March 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

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.