abrdn plc Purchases 26,846 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

abrdn plc increased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,504,850 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,846 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $81,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $55.73 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $67.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by 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.