Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 8,928 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 83,609 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,928 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $59.22 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.