The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stake Lessened by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,822 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 30,735 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $495,215,000 after buying an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,605,000 after buying an additional 1,555,667 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $60,909,000 after buying an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $61.14 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.17. 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 company has a market cap of $74.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. CIBC upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.21.

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.