Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 4,644 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 570,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,644 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $30,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,085,000. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Fractal Investments LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 531,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,765,000 after buying an additional 115,000 shares during the period. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $1,639,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE WMB opened at $56.00 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.08. The stock has a market cap of $68.26 billion, a PE ratio of 23.63, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.