Portside Wealth Group LLC Sells 3,521 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Portside Wealth Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,157 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,521 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $995,000. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 266.6% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,694 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,426,000 after acquiring an additional 113,227 shares during the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 531,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,765,000 after purchasing an additional 115,000 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 72,904 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,946,000 after acquiring an additional 17,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $61.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $74.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.30. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.