The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Holdings Raised by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,339,696 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 152,604 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned 0.19% of Williams Companies worth $81,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 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 worth $832,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,476 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 11,753 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 12,263 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 20.8% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,803 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.22.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.36. The company had a trading volume of 7,907,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,989,701. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.93. 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 firm has a market cap of $46.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, 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 will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.52%.

Williams Companies Company 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.