AGF Management Ltd. Acquires 82,859 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 6.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,388,536 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,859 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd. owned 0.11% of Williams Companies worth $87,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 131,163,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,838,312,000 after purchasing an additional 807,019 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Williams Companies by 6.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,770,336,000 after buying an additional 1,680,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position 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 buying an additional 932,998 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Cibc World Mkts raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.53 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.58 and a 12-month high of $65.55. The company has a market cap of $72.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.09%.

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.