Sandia Investment Management LP Buys Shares of 5,000 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sandia Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.0%

Williams Companies stock opened at $58.77 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $58.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.88 and a 1-year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.