Cozad Asset Management Inc. Has $2.41 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 44,440 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 335 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $57.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $69.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $56.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.57. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.84 and a 1 year high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.