Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 16.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,640 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,489,000 after buying an additional 6,816 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 362.5% in the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,465,991 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $87,608,000 after buying an additional 1,149,045 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,081,000 after buying an additional 87,031 shares during the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $327,000. Finally, Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $977,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WMB opened at $62.60 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.07. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.30 and a twelve month high of $65.55. The stock has a market cap of $76.33 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on WMB shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, September 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $497,715. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.