Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 376,123 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 45,346 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $403,801,000 after buying an additional 2,039,703 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $224,203,000 after buying an additional 1,647,469 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $56,223,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.83.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.9 %

WMB stock opened at $45.03 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.49 and a 52 week high of $45.81. The company has a market cap of $54.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.98.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

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.