The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,452,007 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 693,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $457,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC raised 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.77.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE WMB opened at $58.49 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $37.69 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.86. The firm has a market cap of $71.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.