Paradigm Financial Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Paradigm Financial Partners LLC lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,795 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,323 shares during the period. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 120.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,424 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 153,630 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 9,970 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 2,129 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 560,197 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $18,873,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 22,624 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 3,891 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 80,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,701,000 after buying an additional 4,612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.22.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

WMB stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,723,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,256,537. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.27 and a 12 month high of $39.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.89.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 72.52%.

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.