Morton Community Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Morton Community Bank reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,744 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,131 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for approximately 1.3% of Morton Community Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% during the 4th 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 period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,405,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $400,810,000 after purchasing an additional 166,741 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, 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. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $54.37 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.78 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.20. The company has a market capitalization of $66.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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, equities 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 company 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.