Axa S.A. Acquires 29,323 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Axa S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 13.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 252,089 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,323 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,075,340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,358,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,156 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $913,840,000 after buying an additional 54,902 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $905,583,000 after buying an additional 3,089,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $765,164,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.21.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:WMB opened at $60.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.62. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.58 and a 52 week high of $65.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.67 and a 200 day moving average of $59.71.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,319,101.85. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.