SL Advisors LLC Sells 765 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

SL Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 69,209 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 765 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up about 6.2% of SL Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. SL Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 12.6% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.73. 2,311,009 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,163,231. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. The firm has a market cap of $67.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.07.

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.