Smith Moore & CO. Has $438,000 Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Smith Moore & CO. lowered its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,084 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 5,390 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $54.61 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.02. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.67. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. Truist Financial raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 worth $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.