Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Increased to $41.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target upped by Barclays from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 4.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on WMB. Argus upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.67.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.01. 1,212,810 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,497,844. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $32.49 and a 12 month high of $43.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 14,349 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 179.7% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,848 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 6,970 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,867,000 after buying an additional 2,482,331 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,678,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $156,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.