Tradewinds LLC. Takes Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Tradewinds LLC. bought a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,536 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 10.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,650,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $120,995,000 after acquiring an additional 243,302 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,554,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1,546.0% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 106,098 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,843,000 after purchasing an additional 99,652 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 61.1% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 28,956 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 10,985 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6.0% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,063,435 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $94,232,000 after purchasing an additional 117,113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB traded down $4.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $54.61. 18,979,148 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,574,236. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $57.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.