Investors Purchase High Volume of Williams Companies Call Options (NYSE:WMB)

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 128,815 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,960% compared to the typical volume of 4,209 call options.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $55.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The stock has a market cap of $67.28 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.07.

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.