Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 388,123 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,471 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $17,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 1,855.7% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 39,880 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in Williams Companies by 402.9% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 91,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,199,000 after buying an additional 73,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 41.5% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 89,757 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,097,000 after buying an additional 26,337 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted 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. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

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

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WMB opened at $54.56 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The company has a market capitalization of $66.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.