West Family Investments Inc. Acquires 678 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

West Family Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,126 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. SouthState Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in Williams Companies by 50.4% during 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 period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.60 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $58.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.31. The firm has a market cap of $71.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.54.

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.