Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Stake Lifted by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 185.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,987 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 104.8% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WMB. UBS Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.21.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $59.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.62. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 103.09%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,319,101.85. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.