iA Global Asset Management Inc. Has $2.57 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 49.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,479 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,810 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 127.9% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 265,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,382,000 after purchasing an additional 149,119 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 209,344 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,330,000 after buying an additional 14,307 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $1,012,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 152.3% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 16,142 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 9,744 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.21.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.60 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.46. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $57.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.93. The stock has a market cap of $72.67 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.