Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 387,146 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 977 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $20,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The company 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 one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. 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.