Diversified Trust Co Buys 16,742 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 99.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,628 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 16,742 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 12.6% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $56.40 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36. The firm has a market cap of $68.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.