Dudley Capital Management LLC Buys 6,805 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Dudley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,775 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,805 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises 1.1% of Dudley Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Dudley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of WMB opened at $61.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $74.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.55. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $57.20 and a 200 day moving average of $54.17.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 forecast 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change 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 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.21.

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.