Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 1,912,156 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 133,075,340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,912,156 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Williams Companies worth $8,358,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,770,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.6% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,047,025,000 after purchasing an additional 932,998 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased 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 valued at $913,840,000 after purchasing an additional 54,902 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 34.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $72.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.76 and its 200-day moving average is $59.45. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.09%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,319,101.85. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WMB. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.21.

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.