L & S Advisors Inc Sells 2,803 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

L & S Advisors Inc trimmed its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,803 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 45.0% during the first 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. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 34.0% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $674,566,000 after buying an additional 2,861,988 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 275.7% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,609,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $155,933,000 after buying an additional 1,914,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,770,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680,477 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,319,101.85. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.21.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $59.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $60.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.58 and a 12-month high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results 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 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.09%.

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.