Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 61,134 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 174,518 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 61,134 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $29,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 52.5% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 915 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.09.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.97. The stock had a trading volume of 6,721,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,033,200. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.27 and a 12-month high of $39.09. The company has a market cap of $47.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.22.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.88%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.52%.

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.