The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC

High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,138 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 58,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after acquiring an additional 8,246 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 150,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,497 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Williams Companies by 99.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 206,861 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,195,000 after purchasing an additional 103,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its stake in Williams Companies by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,334,570 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $72,227,000 after purchasing an additional 223,047 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $59.64 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $72.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.36. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One research 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Company 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.