Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 75,469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,703 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,203 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Creative Planning increased its position in Williams Companies by 9.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 199,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,086,000 after buying an additional 17,983 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 25.6% in the third quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,709 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 64,059 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,924,000 after acquiring an additional 9,561 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WMB opened at $54.83 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The firm has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.