First Trust Advisors LP Sells 108,564 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 17.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 521,996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 108,564 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $32,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $765,164,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,089,390 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $674,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,988 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 39.0% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,954,733 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $436,827,000 after buying an additional 1,950,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 275.7% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,609,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $155,933,000 after buying an additional 1,914,730 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of Williams Companies 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,319,101.85. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.7%

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

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WMB. Mizuho raised Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.21.

Williams Companies 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.