Aureus Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Aureus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,819 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 7,533 shares during the quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SouthState Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $38,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.79.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.52 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $52.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.38. The firm has a market cap of $71.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.