Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $70.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $70.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8 %

WMB opened at $59.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $72.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.36. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $456,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 315,936 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $17,098,000 after purchasing an additional 95,835 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,000. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $249,000. Finally, Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $952,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by 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.