KBC Group NV Trims Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

KBC Group NV trimmed its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 853 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $56.55 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’s fifty day moving average price is $49.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $57.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 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. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.