Keudell Morrison Wealth Management Trims Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 35.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,843 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,074,000 after purchasing an additional 10,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brendel Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $56.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.