Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by Motco

Motco cut its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,683 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 346 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 10,955 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Wallace Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.2% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,177 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. TrueWealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% during the second quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,823 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,559,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the second quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,221 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. CIBC upgraded Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. UBS Group upped 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, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $56.92 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $51.48 and a one year high of $65.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.30 and a 200-day moving average of $59.40. The company has a market capitalization of $69.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.65. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.