Czech National Bank Acquires 18,472 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 298,457 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 18,472 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $18,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 131,163,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,838,312,000 after purchasing an additional 807,019 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Williams Companies by 6.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,770,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680,477 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Williams Companies by 5.6% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,047,025,000 after purchasing an additional 932,998 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $913,840,000 after purchasing an additional 54,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $623,115. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $57.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.51 and a fifty-two week high of $63.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. CIBC raised Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Cibc World Mkts raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.86.

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.