The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,620 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,120 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 10,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 2,865 shares during the period. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $253,000. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 8,597 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 3,881 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 19,896 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, 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 value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. 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. Mizuho lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment 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.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.21.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $58.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.38 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.