Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 909,341 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 42.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,254,686 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 909,341 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.10% of Williams Companies worth $67,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMB. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of WMB traded up $1.17 on Friday, hitting $56.24. 7,477,342 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,666,684. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.43. 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 one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $68.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.