The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 56.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 400,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 144,953 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $21,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.4 %

WMB stock opened at $56.23 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.86. The firm has a market cap of $68.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies 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 owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Company 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.