Polymer Capital Management US LLC Invests $474,000 in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,756 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted 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. Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

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

Williams Companies Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $54.61 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.25 and a 200-day moving average of $55.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $66.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 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, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio 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.