108,611 Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Purchased by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 108,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,878,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,405,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $400,810,000 after purchasing an additional 166,741 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Truist Financial raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE WMB opened at $58.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $56.89 and its 200 day moving average is $53.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.16 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $71.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.