Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 20,221 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 107% compared to the typical volume of 9,773 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.5 %

WMB stock traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $57.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,757,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,454,978. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.36, a PEG ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 1.04. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $34.13 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 103.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,213 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,687,797,000 after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $824,623,000 after buying an additional 1,696,618 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Williams Companies

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.