Alta Advisers Ltd Boosts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Alta Advisers Ltd increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,949 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 249 shares during the quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.77.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.18 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.69 and a 12 month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $70.94 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $57.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.97.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid 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 yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

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.