The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Bought by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,421,205 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 55,248 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.69% of Williams Companies worth $328,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,086,234 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $643,015,000 after purchasing an additional 712,048 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Williams Companies by 8.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,455,063 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $486,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,150 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 7.3% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,628,627 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $459,148,000 after purchasing an additional 921,537 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Williams Companies by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $403,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,301,527 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $380,748,000 after purchasing an additional 68,674 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded down $0.19 on Friday, hitting $39.26. 5,723,399 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,256,537. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $37.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.89. The firm has a market cap of $47.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a P/E/G ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $28.27 and a one year high of $39.76. 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 (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. UBS Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.22.

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.