Sowell Financial Services LLC Increases Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 36.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,824 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,938 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,583 shares of company stock worth $7,107,758 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

WMB stock opened at $54.00 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.51, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.26. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.88 and a 52 week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.70%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WMB. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

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.