Aventail Capital Group LP Sells 258,287 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group LP cut its stake in Williams Companies by 78.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 258,287 shares and ending with 69,684 shares worth about $4.19 million.
• Insider selling has also been notable, with SVP Glen G. Jasek and COO Larry C. Larsen both reducing their holdings; insiders sold 68,500 shares total over the last three months.
• Williams Companies reported Q1 earnings of $0.73 per share, beating estimates, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.

Aventail Capital Group LP trimmed its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 78.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,684 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 258,287 shares during the quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $71.26 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $80.07. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $73.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

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.

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