Shelton Capital Management Raises Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Shelton Capital Management boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,686 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 17,488 shares during the quarter. Shelton Capital Management's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.85 on Monday, reaching $57.24. The stock had a trading volume of 982,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,639,646. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.50. The stock has a market cap of $69.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents 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.