OLD National Bancorp IN Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,378 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.0 %

WMB stock opened at $55.43 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.80. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.57 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.06. 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 posted its 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 during 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

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.