The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Holdings Raised by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 31.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 120,517 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 29,138 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 6,313 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,099 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 15,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Williams Companies by 625.2% during the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,016 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.93.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $56.31 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.74 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

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.