McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 1,629 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,629 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its stake in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $54.83 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.49. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial boosted 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. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

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.