Paradigm Financial Partners LLC Sells 4,323 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Paradigm Financial Partners LLC lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund 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 filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Williams Companies by 3.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,086,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $643,015,000 after purchasing an additional 712,048 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Williams Companies by 8.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,455,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $486,991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,150 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 7.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,628,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $459,148,000 after acquiring an additional 921,537 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Williams Companies by 0.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,301,527 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $380,748,000 after acquiring an additional 68,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 35.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $39.26. 5,723,399 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,256,537. The company has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a P/E 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 52 week low of $28.27 and a 52 week high of $39.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.