The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,901,514 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 161,921 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of Williams Companies worth $102,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its position in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in Williams Companies by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.07.

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Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $56.41 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $68.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.82, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.56 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The stock's fifty day moving average is $56.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.35.

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, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 131,583 shares of company stock worth $7,107,758. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies 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.

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