Generali Investments Management Co LLC Acquires Shares of 18,699 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 18,699 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.07.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.0 %

WMB stock opened at $58.38 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $71.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.16 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.75.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other 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 transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, 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. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. 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.