Tradewinds LLC. Makes New $306,000 Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,536 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $60.54 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.81 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.81.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.07.

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.