West Family Investments Inc. Purchases 5,830 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

West Family Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 149.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,728 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 5,830 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $25,000. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 104.8% during the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $60.96 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.53. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55. The company has a market capitalization of $74.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. CIBC raised Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Zacks Research lowered Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,319,101.85. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies 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.