Principal Securities Inc. Reduces Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Principal Securities Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,866 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 13,175 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of WMB traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.26 and a 1-year high of $61.46. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $56.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.07. The stock has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

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.