DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Raises Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 16.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 255,493 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 35,541 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 45.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $677,623,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,370 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,861,988 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,914,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,680,477 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $62.23 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.46 and a 1 year high of $65.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.65. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’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 predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research lowered Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.73.

Williams Companies Company 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.