The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by ClearBridge Investments Ltd

ClearBridge Investments Ltd reduced its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,530,690 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 346,955 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises about 2.2% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $82,841,000 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 WMB. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $116,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 10.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,650,492 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $120,995,000 after buying an additional 243,302 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 175,294 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,002,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 103.1% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after buying an additional 12,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Williams Companies by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 551,136 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,159,000 after acquiring an additional 37,379 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $59.24 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.53.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.