Schear Investment Advisers LLC Purchases Shares of 3,697 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,697 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,459 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,203 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 2.8% in the third quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 11,260 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $235,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE WMB opened at $55.24 on Wednesday. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.40. The stock has a market cap of $67.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays boosted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.