Fmr LLC Buys 243,302 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Fmr LLC increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,650,492 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 243,302 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Williams Companies worth $120,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 120.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WMB opened at $56.30 on Thursday. 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’s 50 day moving average is $53.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.66. The firm has a market cap of $68.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

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.