Rockland Trust Co. Sells 600 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Rockland Trust Co. lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,064 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at about $545,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1,855.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after buying an additional 39,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 402.9% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 91,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,199,000 after acquiring an additional 73,693 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $57.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.46. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.