Morningstar Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Morningstar Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 3.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 41,896 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,684 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $677,623,000 after buying an additional 3,519,370 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $674,566,000 after buying an additional 2,861,988 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 275.7% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,609,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $155,933,000 after buying an additional 1,914,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,770,336,000 after buying an additional 1,680,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.0%

Williams Companies stock opened at $62.63 on Tuesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.24 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.09. The company has a market capitalization of $76.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.50%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.94.

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.