The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Position Increased by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 82.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 799,160 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 361,370 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $43,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sagefield Capital LP raised its stake in Williams Companies by 58.1% during the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 387,583 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $20,976,000 after acquiring an additional 142,357 shares in the last quarter. Sandia Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $271,000. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 86,925.0% during the 4th quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 13,908 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in Williams Companies by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 22,800 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 7,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $276,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.90. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.88 and a 52-week high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.50.

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.