Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Sells 15,096 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 58.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,936 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 15,096 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $677,623,000 after buying an additional 3,519,370 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $674,566,000 after buying an additional 2,861,988 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 275.7% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,609,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $155,933,000 after buying an additional 1,914,730 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,770,336,000 after buying an additional 1,680,477 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.73.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE WMB opened at $57.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $51.48 and a one year high of $65.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The firm’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.