Profund Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Profund Advisors LLC cut its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,665 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,529 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 189,549 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,327,000 after purchasing an additional 6,232 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 357,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $21,379,000 after buying an additional 7,267 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 705,020 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $42,132,000 after purchasing an additional 81,557 shares during the period. Finally, Q3 Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on WMB shares. Barclays boosted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.86.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of WMB opened at $59.53 on Monday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

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.