Janus Henderson Group PLC Trims Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Janus Henderson Group PLC reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,468,826 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 8,900 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.28% of Williams Companies worth $158,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WMB. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $0.86 during trading on Thursday, reaching $57.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,330,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,311,205. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.74. The company has a market capitalization of $69.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

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.