Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 24.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 175,699 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,383 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. 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 worth $827,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc raised its position in Williams Companies by 0.3% during the third quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 78,548 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,586,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 18.7% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WMB. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, 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. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.12 and a 200-day moving average of $46.08. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.