Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Grows Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 105.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,258,552 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 646,488 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned about 0.10% of Williams Companies worth $79,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 45.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $677,623,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,370 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 34.0% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $674,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,988 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 275.7% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,609,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $155,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $112,706,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE WMB opened at $64.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.14 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.00 and a 200 day moving average of $58.93. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.52 and a 1 year high of $65.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The business 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Williams Companies Profile

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.