Grove Bank & Trust Decreases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Grove Bank & Trust reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,928 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $51.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.54. The stock has a market cap of $62.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $51.19.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.