Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $58.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $52.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $46.08.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.9 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $49.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $32.63 and a 1-year high of $49.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.06. The company has a market capitalization of $60.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $817,736,000 after buying an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $403,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039,703 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 worth $410,064,000 after purchasing an additional 311,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 8,540,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $332,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010,658 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.