Groupama Asset Managment Buys 21,585 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 37.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,315 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,585 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,619 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,726,000 after purchasing an additional 11,223 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $207,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,203 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 18,475 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in Williams Companies by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,865 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 3,361 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of WMB stock traded down $2.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $54.84. 3,719,598 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,308,059. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $53.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.92. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.07.

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.