The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stake Cut by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 38.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,113 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 5,046 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 23,160 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 890 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 158.4% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 55,795 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,020,000 after purchasing an additional 34,205 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased 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 upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE WMB traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.44. 11,081,263 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,709,167. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.26 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.18.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.