American International Group Inc. Has $11.31 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

American International Group Inc. lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 324,687 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 5,941 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $11,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $306,417,000. ETF Store Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 28,444 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,636,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $91,820,000 after acquiring an additional 518,009 shares in the last quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 660,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $22,988,000 after purchasing an additional 245,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,350,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $49,037,000 after purchasing an additional 77,524 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $41.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.24 and a 1 year high of $41.89.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WMB. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.