Commerce Bank Purchases 3,280 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Commerce Bank grew its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,511 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,280 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $59.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.35 and its 200-day moving average is $45.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WMB. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.54.

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.