Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,981 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $71,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd 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. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $538,482,000 after acquiring an additional 144,713 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $410,064,000 after acquiring an additional 311,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $325,726,000 after purchasing an additional 618,056 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $53.49 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The firm has a market cap of $65.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 3.55%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.
In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
WMB has been the subject of several research reports. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.07.
View Our Latest Report on 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.
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