Traders Buy High Volume of Williams Companies Put Options (NYSE:WMB)

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 14,453 put options on the company. This is an increase of 22% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,855 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.21.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.2% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 13,714 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 146,333 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,680,000 after purchasing an additional 27,186 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 52,845 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,412,000 after purchasing an additional 16,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $61.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.20 and a 200 day moving average of $54.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.41, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

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.