Nordea Investment Management AB Has $40.05 Million Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 106.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 738,716 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 381,092 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $40,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $2,926,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 34,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $71,952,000 after buying an additional 35,981 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $1,482,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,556,000 after buying an additional 11,000 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $55.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.53 and a 200-day moving average of $48.98. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.36. 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 company has a market cap of $67.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.07.

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.