The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Bought by Mission Wealth Management LP

Mission Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 33.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,313 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,599 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $86,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Williams Companies by 224.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $60,909,000 after purchasing an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 31.7% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $136,461,000 after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $56.31 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.74 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $68.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $56.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.00.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. 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 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial boosted 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. 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.