Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Stake Lifted by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,192,703 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 33,156 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for 1.6% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $75,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $242,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 302,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,319,101.85. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.29.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $61.56 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.58 and a 12-month high of $65.55. 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 market cap of $75.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.09%.

About Williams Companies

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.