CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Has $47.02 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lowered its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 833,775 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,081 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $47,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $59.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $72.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.60. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. 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.