The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 888,375 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 175,175 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $30,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,086,234 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $643,015,000 after acquiring an additional 712,048 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Williams Companies by 8.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,455,063 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $486,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,150 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 7.3% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,628,627 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $459,148,000 after purchasing an additional 921,537 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,301,527 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $380,748,000 after buying an additional 68,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $321,867,000 after buying an additional 2,482,331 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, US Capital Advisors downgraded Williams Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.22.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.2 %

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.89. 7,768,840 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,999,112. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $37.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.97. The company has a market capitalization of $46.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.27 and a 52-week high of $39.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.52%.

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.