Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 78,387 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 904,865 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 78,387 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $48,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,074,000 after acquiring an additional 10,950 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at about $545,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $61.46. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.12.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.