Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Cuts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd trimmed its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 10.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 42,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after acquiring an additional 4,155 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 64.6% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,043 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 8,257 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 26,907 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 844,464 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $38,550,000 after buying an additional 77,253 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $57.33 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $56.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.57. 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 has a market cap of $69.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.84 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial upped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company 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.