M&G Investment Management Ltd. Takes $1.13 Million Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

M&G Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 32,225 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,128,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 121.1% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,658 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. CIBC lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.42.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.54 on Thursday, reaching $41.01. 1,212,942 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,861,284. The company has a market capitalization of $49.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.27 and a 12-month high of $41.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.27.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.