The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 380,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 42,745 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises approximately 3.0% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $20,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 127.9% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 265,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,382,000 after purchasing an additional 149,119 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 209,344 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,330,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,012,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 152.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 16,142 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 9,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents 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 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $59.37 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $56.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.79. The company has a market cap of $72.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. 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 business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date 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 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.