Balboa Wealth Partners Boosts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 66.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,208 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,076 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $56.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $68.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.56 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $56.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.37.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.57%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

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.