The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Position Lifted by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,339,696 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 152,604 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $81,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Rheos Capital Works Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 660,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $22,988,000 after purchasing an additional 245,000 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 107,609 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,625,000 after acquiring an additional 23,579 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Williams Companies by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $220,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,993 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3,338.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 352,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,264,000 after purchasing an additional 341,863 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.22.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,564,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,924,327. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.93.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.52%.

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.