Ossiam Sells 94,896 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ossiam cut its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 85.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,101 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 94,896 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $56.47 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.96. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.69 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The firm has a market cap of $68.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.77.

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.