The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 24.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 175,699 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,383 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 78,548 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,586,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $58.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $70.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.08.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 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 revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.79.

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.