Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Bought by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,535 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 33,821 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 10,955 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the second quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,177 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,823 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,221 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $60.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.64. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $65.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $59.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.69.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.90, for a total value of $123,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 297,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,418,035.50. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Three 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.29.

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.