Strs Ohio Grows Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Strs Ohio lifted its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 25.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 330,678 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,523 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $20,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 131,163,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,838,312,000 after buying an additional 807,019 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,770,336,000 after buying an additional 1,680,477 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,047,025,000 after buying an additional 932,998 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $913,840,000 after buying an additional 54,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $677,623,000 after buying an additional 3,519,370 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $57.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.40. The stock has a market cap of $70.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.48 and a 52 week high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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 net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. CIBC upgraded Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. TD Cowen began coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho upgraded Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.73.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.