Ethic Inc. Has $3.23 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ethic Inc. decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,639 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 7,380 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.50.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.16. 5,166,815 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,656,264. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.77. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.88 and a twelve month high of $61.67. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $70.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.