162,063 Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Acquired by Cambridge Financial Group Inc.

Cambridge Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 162,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,771,000. Williams Companies comprises about 3.6% of Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $116,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 10.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,650,492 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $120,995,000 after buying an additional 243,302 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 175,294 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 103.1% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 12,647 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 551,136 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,159,000 after purchasing an additional 37,379 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Williams Companies 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $72.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $57.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 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.