M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 80,016 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,234 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Patten Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 23,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,476 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Horan Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the third quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 11,753 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 12,263 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 20.8% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,803 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.22.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $39.11 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.06. The stock has a market cap of $47.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.27 and a 52 week high of $39.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 27.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

Williams Companies 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.