The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Holdings Decreased by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 301,930 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 63,224 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 78.3% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 694,588 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $37,591,000 after purchasing an additional 305,092 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 12,819 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP raised its stake in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP now owns 217,284 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $12,138,000 after buying an additional 6,953 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 81,428 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,407,000 after buying an additional 15,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,877,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on 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 target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial increased 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.77.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded up $0.31 on Thursday, reaching $58.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,703,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,611,269. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.69 and a one year high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $71.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.66 and a 200-day moving average of $56.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.