Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $53.00 at Scotiabank

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "sector perform" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Scotiabank's target price indicates a potential downside of 2.52% from the company's previous close.

WMB has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.07.

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Williams Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $54.37. 9,674,028 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,922,085. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.14. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $35.78 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The firm has a market cap of $66.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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.