Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Trims Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. decreased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,900 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 6,000 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up about 1.0% of Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370,974 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $273,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,906 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $495,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank upped 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents 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 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of WMB traded up $1.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.10. 6,867,098 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,647,552. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.06 and a 1-year high of $61.67. 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 capitalization of $73.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.34 and a 200 day moving average of $57.12.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

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.