Chad A. Teply Sells 26,000 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.84 on Friday, hitting $58.10. 4,270,236 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,631,325. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.56. 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 company has a market cap of $70.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.38 and a 52 week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. Truist Financial raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.21.

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.