Vinva Investment Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 14,686 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 14,686 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $795,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $59.74 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $72.84 billion, a PE ratio of 32.64, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.83. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.07.

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.