Morgan Stanley Increases Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $70.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective upped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $70.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.81% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WMB. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $73.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.32. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.