Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $781,000 Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Essex Financial Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 5,670 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in Williams Companies by 2.6% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $54.83 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.87 and a 200-day moving average of $51.49. The firm has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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 return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC upped their target price 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 lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies 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.