King Luther Capital Management Corp Has $3.45 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 60.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,488 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,473 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

WMB stock opened at $59.65 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.64. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $72.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.54.

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.