Fractal Investments LLC Raises Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Fractal Investments LLC grew its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 531,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 115,000 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up approximately 4.4% of Fractal Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Fractal Investments LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $28,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,639,000. LCM Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $235,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 116,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,267,000 after acquiring an additional 27,089 shares during the period. Jackson Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 79,532 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,304,000 after purchasing an additional 3,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 461,711 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $24,988,000 after buying an additional 167,699 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMB. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.1 %

WMB opened at $56.86 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.08. The company has a market cap of $69.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.