The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,557,777 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 18,388 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $84,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 worth $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during 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 buying an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $60,909,000 after buying an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% during the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $136,461,000 after buying an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,398,004,000 after buying an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $58.46. The stock had a trading volume of 6,417,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,606,994. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.13 and a 1 year high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 103.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial upped 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. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.