Private Portfolio Partners LLC Buys 2,086 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Private Portfolio Partners LLC boosted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 28.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,531 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $575,103,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $495,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Williams Companies by 147.1% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $103,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,195 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $61.64 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $75.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.86.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Research 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. 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 price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.07.

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.