Cambiar Investors LLC Sells 10,361 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Cambiar Investors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Williams Companies by 47.5%, selling over 10,000 shares, leaving it with a total of 11,430 shares valued at approximately $683,000.
• Institutional investors collectively own 86.44% of Williams Companies' stock, with notable increases in holdings from companies like Vanguard and Goldman Sachs during recent quarters.
• Williams Companies reported Q2 earnings of $0.46 EPS, which missed analysts' expectations, alongside a quarterly revenue of $2.78 billion, lower than the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion.

Cambiar Investors LLC trimmed its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 47.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,430 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 10,361 shares during the period. Cambiar Investors LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $305,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 598,274 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $32,379,000 after acquiring an additional 11,373 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 322,612 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $17,460,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IronBridge Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.5930 on Wednesday, hitting $57.1630. The stock had a trading volume of 6,270,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,963,207. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.98 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $58.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.30. The stock has a market cap of $69.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.66. 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 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 net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. CIBC raised shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Argus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.86.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,718,333.60. This represents 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 sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.