The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Bought by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 419,163 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $22,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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 boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.50.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Monday, hitting $57.12. The company had a trading volume of 2,346,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,640,156. The firm has a market cap of $69.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.57 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.73. 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 issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was 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. Company 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.