Principle Wealth Partners LLC Sells 1,344 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,922 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,344 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,028 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $106,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 20,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 3,395 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $4,406,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7 %

WMB stock opened at $55.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.90 and its 200 day moving average is $51.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 84.39%.

Williams Companies Company 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.