The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Crestwood Advisors Group LLC

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC reduced its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 220,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,611 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $11,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,004,000 after purchasing an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $330,470,000 after buying an additional 67,016 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,130,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $149,326,000 after buying an additional 108,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.7 %

WMB stock opened at $57.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.26 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.31.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho raised their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment 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.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.