Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 540,533 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.56% of Williams Companies worth $1,687,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 10.1% during 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 last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,554,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1,546.0% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 106,098 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,843,000 after buying an additional 99,652 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 28,956 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 10,985 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.0% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,063,435 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $94,232,000 after acquiring an additional 117,113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $60.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $57.31 and its 200 day moving average is $54.81. The stock has a market cap of $73.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. 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. 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.