Corebridge Financial Inc. Has $19.05 Million Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Williams Companies Inc. by 3.8%, holding 318,836 shares valued at $19.05 million after selling some shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors hold a significant majority, approximately 86.44%, of Williams Companies' stock, with several hedge funds increasing their stakes during the same quarter.
• Research analysts have shown a positive outlook, with Cibc World Mkts upgrading the stock to a strong-buy rating and Wells Fargo raising the target price from $67 to $70.

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 318,836 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 12,482 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $19,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. ICONIQ Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 32.1% in the first quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $2,728,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 362.5% in the first quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,465,991 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $87,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149,045 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 9.0% in the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 8,510 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 34.0% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $674,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Cibc World Mkts raised Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. CIBC raised Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.86.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $56.8290 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.35. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.98 and a 52-week high of $63.45. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm's revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Williams Companies 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.

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