Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys 73,693 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 402.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,983 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 73,693 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% in the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $259,985,000 after buying an additional 1,024,158 shares during the period. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 5,896,375 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $229,782,000 after acquiring an additional 623,820 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares during the period. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $95,771,000 after acquiring an additional 443,423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.70. 6,507,265 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,267,617. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $50.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.40. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $59.17.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.