Kovack Advisors Inc. Takes $365,000 Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,737 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.21.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $57.52. 5,954,284 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,719,221. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.74 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies 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.