Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Given New $70.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at UBS Group from $55.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the pipeline company's stock. UBS Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 23.78% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho raised 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 raised 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.54.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

WMB traded up $0.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.55. 7,305,708 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,252,225. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.03. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $57.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.81.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $817,736,000 after buying an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $538,482,000 after buying an additional 144,713 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $410,064,000 after buying an additional 311,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 8.8% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $325,726,000 after buying an additional 618,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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.