Sunbelt Securities Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $87,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $54.43 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The stock has a market cap of $66.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.44.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies 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.