River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 138,917 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 462,587 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 138,917 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in Williams Companies by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 99,496 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,385,000 after purchasing an additional 24,008 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 30,852 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 13,310 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,756 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 19,232 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 5,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $56.02. 1,834,350 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,772,203. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.35. The firm has a market cap of $68.30 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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 fifty-two week low of $36.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 131,583 shares of company stock worth $7,107,758 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.07.

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.