Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 35,981 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

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 the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,981 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $71,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Blackstone Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $57,220,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 5.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $817,736,000 after buying an additional 1,175,628 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 20.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $259,985,000 after buying an additional 1,024,158 shares during the period. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 11.8% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 5,896,375 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $229,782,000 after buying an additional 623,820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,120,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,938,786. The stock has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $56.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $48.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.38.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. 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 earned $0.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued 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 is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.38.

Williams Companies 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.