Metis Global Partners LLC Raises Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,774 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 18,084 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1,855.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 39,880 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $1,036,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 16,064 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % 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 company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $55.58. The stock had a trading volume of 5,980,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,246,852. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $57.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.74. The stock has a market cap of $67.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.03.

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. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.38.

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.