Ascent Group LLC Cuts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ascent Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 72,556 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,491 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $58.52 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.65 and a 200 day moving average of $46.38. The company has a market cap of $71.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.