Synovus Financial Corp Buys 6,409 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,409 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $30,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

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

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

WMB opened at $53.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.53.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.