Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. Buys Shares of 4,915 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 4,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.21.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $56.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $68.52 billion, a PE ratio of 30.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.56. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.90 and a 1 year high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results 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, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 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.