Cetera Investment Advisers Has $55.95 Million Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Cetera Investment Advisers lessened its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 5.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 768,733 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 45,758 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $55,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $73.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.81. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The company has a market cap of $90.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Williams Companies from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655 in the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.