The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 116,815 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 21,142 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.0 %

WMB stock opened at $58.38 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.16 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The firm has a market cap of $71.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank lifted 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 report on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.07.

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.