13,300 Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Purchased by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 13,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $410,064,000 after acquiring an additional 311,530 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,470,000 after acquiring an additional 67,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.5 %

WMB stock opened at $57.97 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

About Williams Companies

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.