Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,896,926 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 48,857 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.24% of Williams Companies worth $100,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 10,414 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1,001.1% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 101,026 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,375,000 after acquiring an additional 91,851 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 42.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 98,677 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,297,000 after acquiring an additional 29,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $319,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.09.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.23. 5,382,170 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,545,198. The stock has a market cap of $47.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.37. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.52%.

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.