Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Purchases 27,089 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 116,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 27,089 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3,490.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $86,605,000 after buying an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 224.1% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $55.93 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.11. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

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.