The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $59.64 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,306,551 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 32,922 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.11% of Williams Companies worth $59,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,544,000. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 177,285 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,093,000 after buying an additional 33,224 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 34,009 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,553,000 after buying an additional 11,745 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 14,094 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 2,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,398 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.79.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.14 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.08. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The stock has a market cap of $70.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.27%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

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

About Williams Companies

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.