The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 52.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,195 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,702 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 52.5% in the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Thursday, hitting $38.95. The stock had a trading volume of 6,720,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,153,056. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.15. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.09. The stock has a market cap of $47.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.88%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.09.

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.