The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,890,879 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,391,483 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for 0.7% of Clearbridge Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 1.30% of Williams Companies worth $860,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 526,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,488,000 after purchasing an additional 45,160 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,965 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in Williams Companies by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 209,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,365,000 after buying an additional 26,084 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on WMB shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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 lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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%. Equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.