Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Purchases 552 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,301 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted 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. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $54.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.39. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $66.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WMB. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned 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 price target of $52.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.