The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Parkside Financial Bank & Trust

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,174 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 10,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares during the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $253,000. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 8,597 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 19,896 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $58.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $71.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.38 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective 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. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.21.

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.