Summit Financial LLC Raises Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Summit Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 49.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,659 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,189 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,632,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $88,334,000 after buying an additional 143,485 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $157,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,421 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,268,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded down $4.42 on Friday, hitting $54.61. The company had a trading volume of 18,979,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,574,236. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $66.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $57.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.02.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.07.

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.