Generali Investments Management Co LLC Takes $1.01 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,699 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 152.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 16,142 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 9,744 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $795,000. Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $266,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $5,878,000. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $58.38 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.16 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on 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 price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.