United Services Automobile Association Sells 2,259 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

United Services Automobile Association lowered its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,097 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,259 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.21.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $59.60 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $72.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value 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 represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.