The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 158.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,795 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 34,205 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $57.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $69.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.71. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.03 and a 52 week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Williams Companies 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.