The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Holdings Reduced by New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC

New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 54.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,412 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,144 shares during the quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $185,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of WMB opened at $56.55 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.66. The stock has a market cap of $68.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

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.