D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,338 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $58.46 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $34.13 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $56.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.07. The stock has a market cap of $71.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a PEG ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, research analysts expect 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 declared 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 boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.83%.

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.