Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 15,946 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,110,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 15,946 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises about 1.4% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned about 0.17% of Williams Companies worth $114,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective 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 price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of WMB opened at $59.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.36. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The firm has a market cap of $72.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

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.