Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Acquired by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 122.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 41,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 22,681 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 104.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $132,780.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares in the company, valued at $19,488,452.55. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $498,700 in the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.64.

Williams Companies Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $68.45 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.21. The stock has a market cap of $83.60 billion, a PE ratio of 35.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.58 and a 12-month high of $68.70.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.09%.

Williams Companies Profile

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.