Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 37,379 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 551,136 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,379 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burney Co. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 50,083 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,952,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 180.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 638,120 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,868,000 after acquiring an additional 410,705 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 189.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 199,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,769,000 after acquiring an additional 130,477 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 84.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,912 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 10,976 shares during the period. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% during the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 26,166 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.7 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $58.54 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.65 and its 200 day moving average is $46.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 $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. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.