Greenline Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Greenline Partners LLC lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 32.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 95,086 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises about 1.5% of Greenline Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Greenline Partners LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2,303.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after buying an additional 3,370,974 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $273,587,000 after buying an additional 2,065,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $495,215,000 after buying an additional 1,964,421 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $57.04. 6,472,872 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,656,218. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $57.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.76. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.57 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $69.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.