264,155 Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Bought by Strs Ohio

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired 264,155 shares of Williams Companies, Inc. for approximately $15.79 million, highlighting institutional interest in the pipeline company.
• Insider selling has occurred with COO Larry C. Larsen and SVP Terrance Lane Wilson each selling shares recently, indicating a decrease in management ownership.
• Analysts have upgraded Williams Companies' rating, with Cibc World Markets moving it to a strong-buy and setting a price objective of $64.00.

Strs Ohio bought a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 264,155 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $15,786,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,500 shares of company stock worth $623,115 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Cibc World Mkts raised Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. CIBC raised Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.86.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $58.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $71.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.51 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.41.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

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.

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