State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Purchases 53,417 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 265,948 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 53,417 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of 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 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 worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.77.

Williams Companies Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $58.18 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $57.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.97. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.69 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Williams Companies 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.

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