Legal & General Group Plc Trims Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,986,873 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 2,897,158 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.74% of Williams Companies worth $486,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $995,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded up $1.17 on Friday, hitting $56.24. The company had a trading volume of 7,477,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,661,726. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $57.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.50. The company has a market capitalization of $68.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.73, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released 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, analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of 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 represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.