Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Grows Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,450 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,413 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth $46,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $45.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.35. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $45.82. The company has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

About Williams Companies

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.