Wealth Alliance Sells 7,409 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Wealth Alliance cut its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,948 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 7,409 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 224.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 31.7% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB traded down $1.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.44. The company had a trading volume of 11,081,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,709,167. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $56.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.07. The company has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.26 and a 1 year high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Williams Companies Company 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.