UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Buys 17,434 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 20.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,408 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,434 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 104.8% during the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $64.97 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $65.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.80. The company has a market capitalization of $79.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMB. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $18,319,101.85. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.