The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Phraction Management LLC

Phraction Management LLC decreased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,301 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,667 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for about 2.2% of Phraction Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Phraction Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.8% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,203 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $235,000. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 9.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 199,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,086,000 after buying an additional 17,983 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 25.6% during the third quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,709 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 17.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 64,059 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,924,000 after buying an additional 9,561 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $54.83 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.