The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,879,547 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 166,090 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $239,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on WMB shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.55.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $39.32 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.83%.

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.