National Pension Service Grows Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 36.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,831,474 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,029,106 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.31% of Williams Companies worth $240,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chapin Davis Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 10,955 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the second quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,177 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,823 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,221 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $60.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.44. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $65.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.Williams Companies’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 103.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. 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 research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.86.

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.