Williams Companies Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:WMB)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 75,383 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,204% compared to the typical volume of 5,781 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, CIBC upgraded Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.21.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Williams Companies

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.90, for a total transaction of $123,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 297,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,418,035.50. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $765,164,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 190.3% during the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,077,942,000 after buying an additional 6,668,950 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Williams Companies by 27.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $905,583,000 after buying an additional 3,089,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 34.0% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $674,566,000 after buying an additional 2,861,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded up $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $60.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,998,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,487,806. The company has a market capitalization of $74.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.67 and a 200-day moving average of $59.71. Williams Companies has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

About Williams Companies

(Get Free Report)

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.

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