ClearBridge Investments Ltd Sells 346,955 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

ClearBridge Investments Ltd reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,530,690 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 346,955 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up approximately 2.2% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. ClearBridge Investments Ltd owned approximately 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $82,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMB. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $59.24 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.30 and its 200 day moving average is $54.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 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%. On average, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. 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 3.38%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 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.