Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 10,290 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,002 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 10,290 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,867,000 after buying an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $220,506,000 after buying an additional 2,040,993 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,900,745 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740,677 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $143,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 292.5% in the 3rd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,712,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.27. 6,117,069 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,216,499. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.27 and a 52-week high of $41.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.37.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Company 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.