Estabrook Capital Management Lowers Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Estabrook Capital Management decreased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,296 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 8,757 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for about 1.5% of Estabrook Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Estabrook Capital Management’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $293,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 109,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,903,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $932,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,613,284 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $141,431,000 after buying an additional 477,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shelton Capital Management increased its stake in Williams Companies by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 94,686 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,124,000 after acquiring an additional 17,488 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $54.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.16 billion, a PE ratio of 29.65, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.21. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.