Rhumbline Advisers Sells 64,739 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,377,708 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 64,739 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.20% of Williams Companies worth $128,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMB. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.45 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.25. 7,460,900 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,642,853. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.85 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The business's fifty day moving average is $55.97 and its 200 day moving average is $51.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 103.83%.

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.