Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 335 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,440 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,405,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $400,810,000 after purchasing an additional 166,741 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $57.33 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $69.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.84 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $56.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly 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%. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped 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 note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, CIBC upped their price target 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. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

Williams Companies 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.