Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Decreases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,584 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 978 shares during the quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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 valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $54.61 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.02. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. 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 presently 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.