Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 42,745 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 380,600 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 42,745 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for 3.0% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $20,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Williams Companies by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,405,951 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $400,810,000 after buying an additional 166,741 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays upped 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 report on Friday. CIBC raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's 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 owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % 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 worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $1.54 on Monday, reaching $61.14. The company had a trading volume of 6,314,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,182,036. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $74.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.41, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $57.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.17. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.