OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC Takes Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,490 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $866,000. Williams Companies comprises 1.0% of OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $507,875 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.1%

Williams Companies stock opened at $57.84 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.24. The firm has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.82 and a fifty-two week high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 100.50%.

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.