UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Raises Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,805 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 12,684 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of WMB traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $59.77. 8,266,848 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,500,109. The stock's 50-day moving average is $57.30 and its 200-day moving average is $54.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67. The company has a market cap of $72.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

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 for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Williams Companies 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.