First Foundation Advisors Buys 284 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First Foundation Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,882 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $55.02 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $57.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 3.63%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

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.