Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $400.81 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,405,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 166,741 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $400,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was 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 owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.93.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $56.31 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $68.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.74 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.00.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released 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%. Analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

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.