Truist Financial Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,676,167 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 116,411 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.14% of Williams Companies worth $100,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,489,000 after purchasing an additional 6,816 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,081,000 after buying an additional 87,031 shares in the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 14.0% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 10,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $9,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,618 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.69.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.2%

WMB stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $58.52. The stock had a trading volume of 5,461,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,038,023. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $63.45. The firm has a market cap of $71.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50-day moving average price is $59.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

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.