BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 30,031 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp decreased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 203,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 30,031 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. SouthState Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 120.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $58.52 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $71.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $60.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.38.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 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, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.