D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 4,338 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,870 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 4,338 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 132.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 146,247 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $6,676,000 after buying an additional 83,300 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,061 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 36,459 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,664,000 after acquiring an additional 12,256 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 27,203 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 8.2% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 106,170 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,847,000 after purchasing an additional 8,015 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of WMB stock traded down $1.02 on Friday, hitting $57.44. The company had a trading volume of 11,081,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,709,167. The firm has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day moving average is $56.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.26 and a twelve month high of $61.46.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Williams Companies Company 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.