The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,179,344 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 262,611 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $123,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.36. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $72.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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%. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

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.