Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Has $629,000 Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 51.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,622 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 3,961 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 131,583 shares of company stock worth $7,107,758. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WMB opened at $54.00 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.84 billion, a PE ratio of 29.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.88 and a 12-month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.