Viawealth LLC Decreases Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Viawealth LLC lessened its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,520 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,493 shares during the period. Viawealth LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $995,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $59.37 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $72.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $56.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.79.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

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.