Royal Bank of Canada Decreases Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,562,743 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 400,053 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 1.28% of Williams Companies worth $842,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was 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 owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.50. The company had a trading volume of 4,107,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,626,919. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.88 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The company's fifty day moving average is $58.24 and its 200-day moving average is $56.93. The company has a market capitalization of $71.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

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.