MGO One Seven LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,428 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 15,357 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $575,103,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after buying an additional 3,370,974 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 28.8% during 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 last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,873,894 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $155,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399,161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.77.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.9 %

WMB traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,471,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,635,267. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.69 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The stock's 50-day moving average is $57.59 and its 200-day moving average is $56.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a PEG 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 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.