Rafferty Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 271,286 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 19,103 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $149,326,000 after acquiring an additional 108,675 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 19,758 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 65,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,558,000 after buying an additional 3,588 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, Essex Savings Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $58.77 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.88 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $71.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.11, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. 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 earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. CIBC lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.50.

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.