Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Has $2.32 Million Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services LLC dramatically increased its stake in Williams Companies by 838.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 38,550 shares valued at about $2.32 million.
• Williams Companies reported Q1 earnings of $0.73 per share, beating analyst estimates, though revenue of $3.03 billion came in below expectations and was slightly down year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 2.8%, while analysts remain broadly positive with an average Buy rating and a price target around $80.47.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 838.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 38,550 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,442 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $36,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $46,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 99.7% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 767 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 324.7% in the fourth quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 807 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.3%

WMB opened at $75.72 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.51. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $77.41. The company has a market cap of $92.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 92.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $80.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,924,589.65. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 103,369 shares of company stock valued at $7,700,932 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.

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