The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stake Decreased by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 462,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 138,917 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 131,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,107,758. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE WMB opened at $54.00 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.88 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.51, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.26.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. 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. CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

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.