Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Buys New Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,023 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holderness Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 4,623 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,479 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,570,000 after acquiring an additional 15,810 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 127.9% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 265,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,382,000 after acquiring an additional 149,119 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 209,344 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,330,000 after buying an additional 14,307 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.60 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.93. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $72.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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 boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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, CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % 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 quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.