Seelaus Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Seelaus Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,240 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 575 shares during the quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Conning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 27,994 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Platform Technology Partners raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 42,494 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,300,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $55.93 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $55.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.19.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

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.