The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,986,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,897,158 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.74% of Williams Companies worth $486,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $54.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.80 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $57.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.16.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, CIBC boosted 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 given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.