OFI Invest Asset Management Buys Shares of 12,000 Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.4%

Williams Companies stock opened at $59.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $72.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.62. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $65.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its 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). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 103.09%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 302,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Mizuho raised shares of Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of 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, Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.21.

Williams Companies Company Profile

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.