Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 7,587 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 419,163 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $22,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $149,326,000 after buying an additional 108,675 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $545,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $71,952,000 after acquiring an additional 35,981 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 738,716 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $40,046,000 after purchasing an additional 381,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 7,475 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.61 on Friday, reaching $57.67. 3,845,632 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,649,021. The company has a market capitalization of $70.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, 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 $39.34 and a 12-month 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. The business's 50 day moving average price is $57.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, 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 transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business'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 transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank increased 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. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.50.

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.