Barclays Increases Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $56.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target lifted by analysts at Barclays from $46.00 to $56.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.07% from the company’s previous close.

WMB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

WMB stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.96. 2,270,489 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,294,888. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.08. The company has a market capitalization of $68.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $60,909,000 after purchasing an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after buying an additional 718,915 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after buying an additional 520,663 shares during the period. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 26.8% in the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $95,771,000 after buying an additional 443,423 shares during the period. 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.