Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3,490.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $86,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,895,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of 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 target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.12 on Thursday, hitting $59.13. 7,016,055 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,954,684. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $56.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.