Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $48.58 and traded as high as $55.96. Williams Companies shares last traded at $55.88, with a volume of 5,906,129 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.3 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,004,000 after buying an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $538,482,000 after purchasing an additional 144,713 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $410,064,000 after buying an additional 311,530 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.