Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Increases Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,900 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC raised their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $54.43. 7,224,173 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,354,839. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $54.40 and a 200-day moving average of $47.24.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.