B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 55,558 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 115.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 103,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,558 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its position in Williams Companies by 319.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $59.77 on Tuesday. 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 cap of $72.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $57.31 and its 200 day moving average is $54.70. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.