The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by HUB Investment Partners LLC

HUB Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 118,786 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,425 shares during the quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Williams Companies by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $495,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Williams Companies by 224.1% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after purchasing an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in Williams Companies by 31.7% during the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $59.37 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $72.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $56.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.79.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business 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 a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMB. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company 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 company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.