Meridian Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,532 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1,855.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 39,880 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,130,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 402.9% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 91,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,199,000 after buying an additional 73,693 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in Williams Companies by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,335,000 after buying an additional 16,064 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.54.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $58.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $70.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.86. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

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.