Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,362,419 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,266,208 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises 0.8% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $326,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Patten Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 23,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,476 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,865 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Horan Securities Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 11,753 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 12,263 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.55.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.1 %

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $37.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,406,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,053,399. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.27 and a 52-week high of $39.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.04%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.52%.

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.