Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 25,993 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 22.3%, selling 25,993 shares, bringing its total holdings to 90,822 shares valued at approximately $5.4 million.
• Williams Companies reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.46, missing the analysts' expectations of $0.49, with revenues at $2.78 billion against predicted $2.90 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, which represents a 3.5% dividend yield, and is set to be paid on September 29th.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 22.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,822 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 25,993 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% during the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8%

WMB traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.14. 8,344,809 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,864,175. The company has a market cap of $69.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $43.98 and a one year high of $63.45. The company's fifty day moving average price is $58.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. CIBC upgraded Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.86.

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.