8,582 Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Purchased by SBI Securities Co. Ltd.

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,582 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.93.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $56.90 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.98. The company has a market capitalization of $69.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.74 and a twelve month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.