Phoenix Financial Ltd. Lowers Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Phoenix Financial Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 11.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,418 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,661 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Mizuho raised Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,319,101.85. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $65.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.58 and a 1-year high of $65.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.91. The company has a market capitalization of $79.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

Williams Companies Company 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.