The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. cut its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,306,469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 379,165 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $70,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 14th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.07.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $54.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.51, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.88 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.26.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 131,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,107,758. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.