Freedom Day Solutions LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Freedom Day Solutions LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 195.9% in the second quarter, resulting in ownership of 54,226 shares valued at approximately $3.4 million.
• Williams Companies recently reported a miss in earnings per share for the last quarter, posting $0.46 versus the expected $0.49, alongside a year-over-year revenue increase of 19%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.2%, with a dividend payout ratio exceeding 100%.

Freedom Day Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 195.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,226 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,902 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for about 0.9% of Freedom Day Solutions LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Freedom Day Solutions LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 131,163,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,838,312,000 after acquiring an additional 807,019 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,770,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,047,025,000 after acquiring an additional 932,998 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $913,840,000 after acquiring an additional 54,902 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $677,623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were 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 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 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $63.08 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.17 and a 52-week high of $65.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.51 and a 200-day moving average of $59.07. 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 announced 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). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies'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. Equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.94.

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.

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