Investors Buy High Volume of Williams Companies Put Options (NYSE:WMB)

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 14,453 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 22% compared to the average daily volume of 11,855 put options.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $60.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $74.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.29. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $575,103,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,025,795,000 after buying an additional 5,068,738 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $190,358,000 after buying an additional 3,370,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $273,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,906 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

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.