The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Position Lifted by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 376,123 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 45,346 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $786,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its stake in Williams Companies by 582.1% during the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 339,822 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $14,442,000 after acquiring an additional 290,000 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 39.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 34,656 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 9,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 20.3% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 264,710 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,164,000 after acquiring an additional 44,758 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.9 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $45.03 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $45.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.83.

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.