The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Position Reduced by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,890,879 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 3,391,483 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises approximately 0.7% of Clearbridge Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 1.30% of Williams Companies worth $860,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 526,380 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $28,488,000 after buying an additional 45,160 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $269,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,965 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 209,842 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,365,000 after purchasing an additional 26,084 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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 boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target 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. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.3 %

WMB stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.54. 5,771,962 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,500,294. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.81 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $57.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.70. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value 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 represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Company 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.