B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $5.60 Million Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 115.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 103,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,558 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. 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 note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.77 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $57.31 and its 200 day moving average is $54.70. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.67. The firm has a market cap of $72.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, 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.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

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.