Qtron Investments LLC Cuts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Qtron Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,033 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 6,697 shares during the quarter. Qtron Investments LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMB. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.49. 6,895,827 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,631,570. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.72. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.27 and a one year high of $61.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.