Central Bank & Trust Co. Has $5.50 Million Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Central Bank & Trust Co. reduced its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.6%, selling 6,151 shares, leaving it with a total of 87,633 shares valued at approximately $5.5 million.
• Insider trading activity included COO Larry C. Larsen selling 4,500 shares at an average price of $58.47, and SVP Terrance Lane Wilson selling 2,000 shares at $57.62, reflecting decreases in their respective positions.
• Analysts have given Williams Companies a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $62.86, as several brokerages issued varied ratings affecting the stock's outlook.

Central Bank & Trust Co. lessened its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 6.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,633 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 6,151 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 298,457 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $18,746,000 after purchasing an additional 18,472 shares in the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 42,321 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,658,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 145.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 55,217 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,468,000 after purchasing an additional 32,758 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 846.3% during the 2nd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,779 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 13,665 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $60.39. The stock had a trading volume of 8,882,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,539,012. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.51 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The stock has a market cap of $73.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $58.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.44. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMB. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. CIBC upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.86.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $623,115 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.