CreativeOne Wealth LLC Lowers Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• CreativeOne Wealth LLC reduced its position in Williams Companies, Inc. by 16.4% in Q1, selling 6,275 shares and ending with 32,088 shares valued at approximately $1.92 million.
• Several analysts upgraded Williams Companies, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target set at $62.86, indicating optimistic market sentiment.
• Williams Companies announced a quarterly $0.50 dividend to be paid on September 29, with a yield of 3.4%.

CreativeOne Wealth LLC reduced its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 6,275 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $335,419,000. Blackstone Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 45.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 34.0% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $674,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 6,407.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $133,772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204,090 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WMB. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus restated a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was 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 directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $507,875 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.86 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.02. 2,831,770 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,623,901. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.98 and a 1-year high of $63.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.40. The firm has a market cap of $69.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.65.

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 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 firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio 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.