Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $14.68 Million Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 271,286 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 19,103 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,015,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,144,000. Resolution Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,858,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,809,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 145,843 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,893,000 after acquiring an additional 40,766 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $58.75. 4,562,005 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,625,204. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $58.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.98. The stock has a market cap of $71.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.88 and a 12 month 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.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.