Atria Investments Inc Cuts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Atria Investments Inc reduced its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 139,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,152 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $54.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $35.74 and a one year high of $61.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.86, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

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.