The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,557,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 18,388 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $84,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $58.25 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.03. The firm has a market cap of $71.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.85 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.83%.

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.