Forte Capital LLC ADV Cuts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Forte Capital LLC ADV lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,022 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 8,141 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. US Capital Advisors downgraded Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.22.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.13 on Friday, reaching $38.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,420,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,587,367. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.00. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.27 and a 12-month high of $39.76. The company has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.52%.

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.