The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Holdings Decreased by Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. cut its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 59.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 454,958 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 680,042 shares during the quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $24,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in Williams Companies by 319.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $58.49 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.69 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. 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 company 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 is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’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 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.77.

About Williams Companies

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.