Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 112,157 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 52.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 326,236 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 112,157 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $19,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $58.47. 4,606,763 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,044,355. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.41 and a 52 week high of $63.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $59.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $71.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. Williams Companies's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.25.

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.