First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,705 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,228 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,086,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $643,015,000 after purchasing an additional 712,048 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,455,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $486,991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,150 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.3% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,628,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $459,148,000 after purchasing an additional 921,537 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,301,527 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $380,748,000 after buying an additional 68,674 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.22.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2 %

WMB traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.63. 467,247 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,908,782. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.98. The stock has a market cap of $47.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.27 and a fifty-two week high of $39.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.52%.

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.