The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 164,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,346,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 19,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 6,409 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE WMB opened at $59.70 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.69 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $72.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.77.

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.