Oarsman Capital Inc. Cuts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Oarsman Capital Inc. lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 55.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,780 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,175 shares during the quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $96,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,477 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 195,037 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,903,000 after purchasing an additional 51,935 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Williams Companies by 20.5% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 105,077 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,797,000 after purchasing an additional 17,875 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 38.9% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 365,154 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,693,000 after purchasing an additional 102,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 52.5% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,706 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $808,000 after buying an additional 6,099 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $54.61 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.02. The stock has a market cap of $66.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. 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 $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Williams Companies 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.