Heritage Wealth Advisors Sells 73,521 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Heritage Wealth Advisors lowered its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 408,431 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 73,521 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises about 1.1% of Heritage Wealth Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Heritage Wealth Advisors' holdings in Williams Companies were worth $22,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $495,215,000 after buying an additional 1,964,421 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,054,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 224.1% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $59.24. The company had a trading volume of 5,451,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,493,044. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.53. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.