Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Lowers Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lowered its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 59.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 454,958 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 680,042 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $24,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.77.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $59.63. The stock had a trading volume of 5,882,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,629,345. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.69 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $57.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.99. 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 stock has a market cap of $72.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. 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. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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