First Trust Advisors LP Trims Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 17.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 57.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,007 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 6,573 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 27.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $905,583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,089,390 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 293,319 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $18,423,000 after acquiring an additional 7,410 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $76,000. Finally, WCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.5% during the second quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,271 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:WMB opened at $60.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $73.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.71. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released 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 firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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. Research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WMB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research cut shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.