Mizuho Securities USA LLC Buys 36,494 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,535 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,494 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,062,000. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,074,000. ZEGA Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $565,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $731,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

WMB opened at $59.60 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $57.09 and its 200-day moving average is $53.99. The company has a market cap of $72.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.46. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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%. Equities 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. CIBC lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.