Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 4,359 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,667 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% during the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after buying an additional 718,915 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $59.22 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $56.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.12.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their target price 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, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company 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.