The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Continuum Advisory LLC

Continuum Advisory LLC lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 61,426 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,092 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $149,326,000 after acquiring an additional 108,675 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 11,495 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,292 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,761 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $275,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,166 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $58.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $71.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.88 and a 12-month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

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.