Morgan Stanley Boosts Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $70.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $70.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.50% from the stock’s current price.

WMB has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.6 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $61.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $74.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.17. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.