PDS Planning Inc Buys 743 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,674 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.07.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $71.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $56.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.75. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.16 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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%. As a group, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Corporate 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.