Nicholas Investment Partners LP Invests $9.15 Million in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 123,075 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,149,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Apella Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 5,988 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% during the second quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,153 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% during the second quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.2% in the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WMB shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total value of $973,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 268,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,064.33. This trade represents a 4.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,000 shares of company stock worth $1,262,930. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.7%

WMB opened at $71.02 on Tuesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.08 and a twelve month high of $80.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.59.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.67%.

Williams Companies Profile

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.