The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,245 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,280 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 43,628 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 233.9% in the 4th quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 4,865 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885 shares in the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $268,000. Finally, Colonial River Investments LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 8,219 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.21.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $57.52 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $56.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.74 and a 52 week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Williams Companies 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.