O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Buys 45,748 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,748 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $12,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 526,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,488,000 after acquiring an additional 45,160 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $73,000. Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,965 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $810,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 209,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,365,000 after buying an additional 26,084 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.77 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.70. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $72.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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) 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on 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 target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

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.