World Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 11,929 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

WMB opened at $53.69 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.62. 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 stock has a market cap of $65.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.07.

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.