Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Purchases 4,644 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,703 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,644 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in Williams Companies by 13.5% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 181,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,504 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $242,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 207,629 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,824,000 after buying an additional 34,870 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 36,554 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 60.1% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $55.19 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.49. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $67.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.