Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,464 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 228 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,652 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $857,000. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 17,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $923,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $18,036,000. Finally, Cowa LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 6,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 1,905 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $57.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $56.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.41. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.54 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The company has a market cap of $69.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMB. Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.