Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 10,511 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,511 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 132.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 146,247 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,676,000 after buying an additional 83,300 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 106,170 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,847,000 after acquiring an additional 8,015 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 494.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 394,161 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $17,993,000 after purchasing an additional 327,877 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 44,572 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 11,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 26,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $57.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. 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 52 week low of $34.26 and a 52 week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 103.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMB. UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.