The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Cooke & Bieler LP

Cooke & Bieler LP lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,250 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 638 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE WMB opened at $54.00 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.88 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a PE ratio of 29.51, 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.26.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price 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. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report 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 research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies 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 transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $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 sold 131,583 shares of company stock worth $7,107,758. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.