MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Sells 4,871 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,180 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,871 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,470,000 after purchasing an additional 67,016 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 3.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.13 and a 200 day moving average of $49.76. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

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.