Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 78,955 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 247,204 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 78,955 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $995,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.21.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $56.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.56. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.90 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

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.