Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Cuts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,205,424 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 157,506 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for about 1.8% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.34% of Williams Companies worth $227,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 11,495 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,292 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 83,609 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,525,000 after acquiring an additional 8,928 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,045 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 6,804 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,761 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $58.77 on Monday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $58.24 and its 200 day moving average is $56.93. The company has a market capitalization of $71.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.88 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.50.

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.