Avantra Family Wealth Inc. Takes Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,498 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.1 %

WMB traded up $1.18 on Wednesday, hitting $56.90. The company had a trading volume of 3,708,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,384,983. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $56.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a market cap of $69.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Williams Companies

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.