Natixis Advisors L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,091,350 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 78,102 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned 0.09% of Williams Companies worth $38,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Patten Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 23,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,476 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Horan Securities Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 11,753 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 12,263 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,803 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.22.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.67. 4,420,828 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,587,367. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.77 and its 200-day moving average is $35.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.27 and a 12-month high of $39.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.52%.

Williams Companies Company 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.