Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 381,092 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 106.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 738,716 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 381,092 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.06% of Williams Companies worth $40,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position 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 buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.5 %

WMB stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.40. 5,986,743 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,862,522. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $55.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.03. The firm has a market cap of $68.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Company 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.