Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Stock Holdings Trimmed by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Williams Companies by 10.8%, selling 683,827 shares, leaving the fund with approximately 5.66 million shares valued at $338 million.
• Institutional investors collectively hold 86.44% of Williams Companies' stock, indicating strong institutional interest despite recent share sales from insiders.
• Williams Companies announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share with an annualized yield of 3.5%, set to be paid on September 29th.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,658,144 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 683,827 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.46% of Williams Companies worth $338,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $507,875. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. CIBC upgraded Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.86.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.14. The company had a trading volume of 9,560,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,700,749. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.35. 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 1 year low of $43.98 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company'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. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. 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.