Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 49.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,903 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 12,809 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% during the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $54.37 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $66.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.14. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.78 and a 12 month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. CIBC raised 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.