Capital Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 25,042 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 206,688 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,042 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $11,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 11.5% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 140,081 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,953,000 after acquiring an additional 14,480 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 20.3% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 264,710 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,164,000 after buying an additional 44,758 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $786,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $55.93. 2,510,261 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,456,599. 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 capitalization of $68.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.26.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company 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%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.