Mary A. Hausman Sells 7,951 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.0 %

WMB stock opened at $55.60 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $57.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America started coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 109.1% in the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at about $57,220,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $817,736,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 20.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $259,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,158 shares during the period. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its stake in Williams Companies by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 5,896,375 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $229,782,000 after purchasing an additional 623,820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.