The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,211,534 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 95,017 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.10% of Williams Companies worth $65,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in 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 fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies 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 transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.01. 4,560,879 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,616,729. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.43 and a 52-week 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 fifty day simple moving average of $57.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.77.

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.