The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Cypress Capital Group

Cypress Capital Group lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $86,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,667 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Williams Companies by 224.1% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $60,909,000 after purchasing an additional 922,550 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its position in Williams Companies by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $136,461,000 after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. CIBC upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $56.31 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.74 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.68 and a 200 day moving average of $53.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

About Williams Companies

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.