Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 75,278 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 10,950 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $720,000. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $545,000. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $165,130,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1,855.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,918,000 after buying an additional 39,880 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several research reports. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.1 %

WMB traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,207,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,065,873. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. The firm has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.59.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

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.