Herbst Group LLC Sells 7,000 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Herbst Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 38,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the period. Herbst Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 115,450 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,907,000 after purchasing an additional 6,413 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Williams Companies by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 47,669 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,026,000 after buying an additional 9,918 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,960 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 11,627 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 51,477 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 5,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $1,248,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.1 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.22 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.71. 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 has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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.