Signature Wealth Management Group Has $4.64 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Signature Wealth Management Group trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,690 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 28,847 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises about 1.9% of Signature Wealth Management Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Signature Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,405,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $400,810,000 after purchasing an additional 166,741 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of WMB opened at $57.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $69.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.84 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.51.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value 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 $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised 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. Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

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.