The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Holdings Boosted by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,714,358 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 380,051 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.14% of Williams Companies worth $92,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.3 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $60.54 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.81. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $73.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’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 value of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was 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 Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.