DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 5,112 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,445 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,112 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $12,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $116,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,650,492 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $120,995,000 after buying an additional 243,302 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 175,294 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 103.1% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 12,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Williams Companies by 7.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 551,136 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,159,000 after acquiring an additional 37,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.53. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67. 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 cap of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is 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.