Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 16.81% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $59.92 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $57.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.07 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.