The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,466,384 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 49,666 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for 2.6% of Equity Investment Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $112,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% in the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $57,220,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $259,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,158 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 11.8% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 5,896,375 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $229,782,000 after acquiring an additional 623,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $56.55 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.94 and a 200-day moving average of $45.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $57.33. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business 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 posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WMB. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.