The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 35,981 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $71,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, 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 value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 0.65 % 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.49. 16,719,879 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,424,947. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $54.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.81. 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 market cap of $65.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business 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 business's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.