The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stake Lowered by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 525,545 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 20,936 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $28,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Hudock Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Consolidated Planning Corp grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 105,335 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,701,000 after buying an additional 1,691 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 446,689 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,175,000 after buying an additional 42,618 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of WMB opened at $57.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.03 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. CIBC increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.