The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) CAO Mary A. Hausman Sells 8,896 Shares

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.6 %

WMB traded down $0.36 on Wednesday, hitting $56.45. The company had a trading volume of 4,623,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,670,428. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.98. 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 $35.74 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a market cap of $68.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMB. UBS Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup increased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.93.

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.