Williams Companies Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:WMB)

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 40,791 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 381% compared to the average volume of 8,479 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.0 %

WMB stock opened at $55.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.66. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Williams Companies Company 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.