The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 582.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 339,822 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 290,000 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $306,417,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,221,000 after acquiring an additional 14,672 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 145.5% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 95,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after acquiring an additional 56,509 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,636,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $91,820,000 after purchasing an additional 518,009 shares during the period. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 1,644,620 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,091,000 after purchasing an additional 56,013 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $45.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $45.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.98.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

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.