Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 128,815 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,960% compared to the average daily volume of 4,209 call options.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $54.43 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.40 and a 200-day moving average of $47.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies 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 will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. Citigroup lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. 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 research note on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, 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 0.65 % 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Company 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.