Blair William & Co. IL Acquires 11,750 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 24.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,121 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,750 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in 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 worth $60,909,000 after buying an additional 922,550 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $2.62 during trading on Thursday, hitting $58.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,516,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,744,664. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The firm has a market cap of $71.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was 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 $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Company 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.