Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,903 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,421 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares during the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 238,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,930,000 after acquiring an additional 45,748 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 526,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,488,000 after acquiring an additional 45,160 shares during the period. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $73,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $61.64 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.86. 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 stock has a market cap of $75.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMB. 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 note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

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.