Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 78,955 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 247,204 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 78,955 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.21.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $56.21 on Friday. 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 $34.90 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $68.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $56.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.56.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

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.