Platform Technology Partners Acquires 246 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Platform Technology Partners boosted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,494 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the quarter. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,074,000 after buying an additional 10,950 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $55.93 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $68.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.11.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

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.