Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 25,509 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 65.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,391 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 25,509 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,054,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,687,797,000 after buying an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $575,103,000. Amundi increased its position in Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $495,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’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 value of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.77.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $58.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.70 and its 200 day moving average is $56.38. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.01 and a 12-month high of $61.67. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

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.