Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV Raises Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 181,072 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $510,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,458,270 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $349,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,189 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 52,426 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,837,000 after purchasing an additional 10,085 shares in the last quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Meketa Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $535,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.2%

Williams Companies stock opened at $58.16 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $58.07 and its 200-day moving average is $56.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.88 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The company has a market cap of $70.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Williams Companies 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.