Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 25,359 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,258,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 25,359 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.10% of Williams Companies worth $68,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $575,103,000. Amundi boosted its position in Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $495,215,000 after buying an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 147.1% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $103,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,195 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,213 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $54.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.25 and its 200 day moving average is $55.02. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on 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 raised their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

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.