Cibc World Markets Corp Grows Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Cibc World Markets Corp raised its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 192,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,951 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % 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, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted 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. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.38 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.16 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $56.89 and its 200 day moving average is $53.75. 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 $71.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company 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 yield of 3.43%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

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.