Pitcairn Co. Sells 903 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Pitcairn Co. decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,978 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 903 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $54.61 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The firm has a market cap of $66.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial lifted 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. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.