Empowered Funds LLC Acquires Shares of 166,568 Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 166,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,383,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2.3% during the second quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 5,988 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,153 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total value of $973,310.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. The trade was a 4.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,262,930. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $73.75 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.08 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The stock has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 83.67%.

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.