HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Sells 1,726 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 31,508 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,726 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 value of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $59.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $72.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $57.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

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.