The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Argent Trust Co

Argent Trust Co cut its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,231 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,054,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,687,797,000 after acquiring an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $575,103,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $495,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $456,012,000 after buying an additional 234,423 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.9 %

Williams Companies stock traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $55.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 666,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,641,959. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.29. The company has a market capitalization of $67.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This 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, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays boosted 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 raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

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.