The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Holdings Decreased by Optimum Investment Advisors

Optimum Investment Advisors trimmed its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,792 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 293 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. SouthState Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 research note on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.46.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $51.54 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $52.17. The company has a market cap of $62.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 7.10 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 $46.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.75.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.