Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $64.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price indicates a potential upside of 10.98% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on WMB. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded up $0.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,845,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,649,021. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $57.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.67. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $39.34 and a 12 month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $995,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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.