Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Trims Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL trimmed its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,012,425 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 33,880 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for about 1.3% of Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $54,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 43,628 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,361,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 233.9% during the 4th quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 4,865 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 3,408 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Williams Companies by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $268,000. Finally, Colonial River Investments LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 8,219 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE WMB opened at $57.28 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day moving average price is $56.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.41. The company has a market capitalization of $69.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.54 and a 12 month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

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.