The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC cut its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 22.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,309,695 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 373,541 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Williams Companies worth $45,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rheos Capital Works Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 660,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $22,988,000 after purchasing an additional 245,000 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 28.1% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 107,609 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,625,000 after purchasing an additional 23,579 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 35.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $321,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,331 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 45.3% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $220,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,993 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 3,338.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 352,104 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $12,264,000 after buying an additional 341,863 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.68. 6,119,642 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,119,099. The business's 50-day moving average price is $36.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.27 and a twelve month high of $39.76. The company has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.00.

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.