Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Sells 5,625 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Beech Hill Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. by 16.9% during the second quarter, selling 5,625 shares and ending with a total of 27,563 shares valued at approximately $1.73 million.
• Institutional investors own 86.44% of Williams Companies stock, with significant increases in positions from firms like Goldman Sachs (up 45%) and Voya Investment Management (up 275.7%) during the first quarter.
• Williams Companies reported $0.46 earnings per share in its most recent quarter, missing analyst expectations, along with a 19% year-over-year revenue increase to $2.78 billion.

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,563 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 5,625 shares during the period. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 45.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $677,623,000 after buying an additional 3,519,370 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 34.0% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $674,566,000 after buying an additional 2,861,988 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 275.7% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,609,318 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $155,933,000 after buying an additional 1,914,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,770,336,000 after buying an additional 1,680,477 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $63.10 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $60.05 and its 200 day moving average is $59.22. 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 stock has a market cap of $76.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.46 and a twelve month high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly 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. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Cibc World Mkts raised Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Williams Companies

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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