Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires 26,084 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 209,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 26,084 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $11,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of 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 target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $58.98 on Friday. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $57.35 and a 200-day moving average of $54.89.

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, meeting 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. 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.