Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,037 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 51,935 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.85. The stock had a trading volume of 8,371,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,645,309. The stock has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.05. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $53.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.88. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. CIBC upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.07.

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.