Prospera Private Wealth LLC Buys 92,035 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Prospera Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 397.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,216 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 92,035 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for about 1.0% of Prospera Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Prospera Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $58.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.31. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $58.69. The stock has a market cap of $71.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.73, 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 quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.54.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.