Private Advisor Group LLC Has $5.87 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 108,425 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7 %

WMB stock opened at $57.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.25. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $34.26 and a one year high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.