Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,943,627 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 7,791,039 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 2.29% of Williams Companies worth $1,512,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $575,103,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $86,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,667 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $103,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Williams Companies Stock Down 7.1 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $4.19 on Friday, reaching $54.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,572,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,729,119. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $57.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.89. 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 company has a market capitalization of $66.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase 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 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on WMB shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.