Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 328,287 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 17,680 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $20,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $677,623,000 after buying an additional 3,519,370 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 34.0% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $674,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,988 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 275.7% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,609,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $155,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914,730 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Williams Companies by 6.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,770,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680,477 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the company’s 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 owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $57.50 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.46 and a 1-year high of $65.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.35. The firm has a market cap of $70.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.65. 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 (NYSE:WMB) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WMB. CIBC raised Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average 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.