Wells Fargo & Company Increases Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $38.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target suggests a potential downside of 4.14% from the company's current price.

WMB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.42.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.64. The company had a trading volume of 4,643,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,937,401. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $28.27 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The firm has a market cap of $48.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $38.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.11.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 22,683 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 17,883 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,116 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.8% in the first quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Company 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.