Columbus Macro LLC Acquires 19,984 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 12.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,639 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 19,984 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for about 1.3% of Columbus Macro LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $11,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 104.8% during the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Three investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.21.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies 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 transaction of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,319,101.85. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $59.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.58 and a 1-year high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 103.09%.

About Williams Companies

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.