HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,063,435 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 117,113 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.17% of Williams Companies worth $94,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE WMB traded down $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.30. The stock had a trading volume of 7,505,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,306,849. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The company has a market capitalization of $68.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

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