The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Bought by Guggenheim Capital LLC

Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 173,128 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 7,249 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,346,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Williams Companies by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 19,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 6,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

WMB opened at $58.32 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.63. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.27 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The firm has a market cap of $71.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued 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 anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 3.43%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup lifted 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. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % 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 quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.