NorthRock Partners LLC Takes $510,000 Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,429 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,213 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 540,533 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $824,623,000 after buying an additional 1,696,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $575,103,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WMB traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $57.85. 1,286,308 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,609,471. The firm has a market cap of $70.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.88 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $58.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.00. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.50.

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.