Focus Partners Wealth Sells 7,588 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Focus Partners Wealth lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 656,075 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,588 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned 0.05% of Williams Companies worth $35,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on WMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $57.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $70.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.70. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.57 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

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.