Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Sells 1,527,030 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 84.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,699 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,527,030 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $300,000. Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 28,922 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 44.0% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 21,494 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 6,565 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.3% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,120 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,873,473 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $131,174,000 after acquiring an additional 38,594 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.6 %

WMB opened at $56.41 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $68.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.82, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.56 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.35.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost 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 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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 boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 131,583 shares of company stock worth $7,107,758. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.