The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by GS Investments Inc.

GS Investments Inc. lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,080 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 4,900 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises approximately 2.1% of GS Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. GS Investments Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 valued at $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $456,012,000 after buying an additional 234,423 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Williams Companies Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $1.54 during trading on Monday, hitting $61.14. 6,314,136 shares of the company were exchanged, 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 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, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.21.

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.