The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 120.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.9 %

WMB stock opened at $51.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.55. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $52.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. CIBC upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.62.

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.