Partners in Financial Planning Makes New $219,000 Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,045 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.24 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.67. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $57.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.60.

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%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. 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 note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

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.