First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Has $1.10 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,240 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.32 on Thursday. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.27 and a one year high of $61.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.63. The company has a market cap of $71.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

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.