MML Investors Services LLC Raises Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 21.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 36,213 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1,855.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 39,880 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in Williams Companies by 402.9% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 91,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after purchasing an additional 73,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 41.5% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 89,757 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,097,000 after purchasing an additional 26,337 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $54.56 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.94 and its 200 day moving average is $47.03. The stock has a market cap of $66.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.