Realta Investment Advisors Sells 12,127 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Realta Investment Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 72.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,604 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 12,127 shares during the period. Realta Investment Advisors’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 34.0% during the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,301 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 3,121 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 19,192 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Williams Companies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 14,255 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in Williams Companies by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 25,045 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,248 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMB. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $55.93 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.11. 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 capitalization of $68.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.