Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Purchases Shares of 119,437 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 119,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,464,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

WMB stock opened at $59.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $72.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.46. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.67. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Company 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.