Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 15,242 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 90,872 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 15,242 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Mizuho raised shares of Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three equities 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.21.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $60.16 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.64. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.Williams Companies’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.09%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,319,101.85. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.