MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Trims Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lowered its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 109,180 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,871 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $720,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,074,000 after purchasing an additional 10,950 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in 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 during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $545,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,130,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $59.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $56.13 and a 200 day moving average of $49.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.