UMB Bank n.a. Raises Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,166 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $86,605,000 after buying an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 224.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its position in Williams Companies by 31.7% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $60.62 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.92. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.91. The company has a market cap of $73.90 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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 net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.