Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Purchased by UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,905,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 949,298 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned about 0.81% of Williams Companies worth $591,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 7,460 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 8,101 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meketa Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $535,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.86.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $57.55 on Wednesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.98 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.38.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.