Hartford Financial Management Inc. Sells 4,259 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,259 shares during the quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,074,000 after buying an additional 10,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brendel Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $56.55 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.27 and its 200-day moving average is $50.61. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.