Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Stock Position Raised by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 27.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 510,913 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 110,831 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $30,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,687,797,000 after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $824,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $575,103,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.1%

WMB opened at $58.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.52 and a 200-day moving average of $57.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.25.

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.