Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 13,628 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 36.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,444 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 13,628 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE WMB opened at $56.31 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $56.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $48.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.